[1 of 2][SYMBOLS] Revolutionary Black Girl Himemiya Anshi

[1 of 2]

The contents of this article apply to the following anime(and
not only to them): Utena, Sailormoon, Evangelion, Saber Marionette J,
BGC 2090, Blue Seed, Silent Moebius.


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                               The Golden Triangle

Foreword 

The writing of this book is supported by the discovery and the
translation of an ancient Sanskrit document called the Paratrimshika.
The author found the Paratrimshika in an eleventh century Indian
document called the Paratrishika written by the Indian sage and
mystic, Abhinavagupta. The Paratrishika Vivarana was an extension and
commentary on the much older Paratrimshika which probably was based on
oral traditions going back to or preceding the Indian Vedas, Agamas
and Tantras, the world's oldest religious writings.

The formidable Paratrishika Vivarana was written to expound upon the
Paratrimshika that is contained within it. However, as you read the
Paratrishika Vivarana more closely, you discover that it is really a
tutorial upon the concepts required to understand the inner text. Over
twenty percent of this interesting mystical book is spent in telling
the reader how to dissect and manipulate the Sanskrit terms to
properly translate the much older inner document. The genius of
Abhinavagupta can be understood as he uses a surface translation of
the Paratrimshika to explain the complex system of the Tantrik model
of the mystical body and mind. The meaning of the inner document is
still hidden however, even with the assistance from Abhinavagupta.
This is because the inner document speaks of processes that will be
interpreted wrongly if they have not been experienced. Without that
experience, you can only rely upon the commentary that is very complex
and difficult to follow with a science foreign to the modern world.
Modern references to this writing claim it to be one of India's most
challenging books to read. The Paratrimshika can best be described as
a very scientific or technical writing and like any other technical
writing it is meaningful only to those who have been initiated into
the specialized nomenclatures and teachings.

The Paratrimshika, in summary, was written for that one person in a
thousand spoken of as one of the "select" in religious writings. If
the reader has not experienced the higher realms or sensations that
were written about, the document becomes a meaningless and obtuse
manuscript. However, if you are curious, open and willing to explore,
then you will be fascinated with this strange document and feel that
something great is contained within it. The obscurity of the writing
can also be explained in that it was written for the kaliyuga age or
the "age of darkness" to preserve the ancient wisdom for the dawning
of a better time.

This book is intended to be primarily a modern extension of the
contents of the Paratrishika Vivarana, with support from other ancient
writings, as well as a source of modern scientific wisdom. The Golden
Triangle reveals much of the philosophy and practices as well as other
material assumed to have been taught by the ancient sages. The Golden
Triangle is written in the same technical style as the earlier
writings and hence is not academic with each statement limited or
supported by the normal outside authoritative references. Rather, it
is written to be self-supportive in that the preceding statements as
well as personal experiential verification supports each new
statement. If this is not found to be true, then this book may not be
for you or you need to restudy the prior discussions. Statements
cannot be taken out of context nor read out of order. Further, the
reading of the whole document is necessary for understanding since all
of the statements are inter-connected. References to authoritative
books are given in the Appendix if you care to investigate further.

The Paratrimshika discusses a super power that resides within the
hridaya, heart or "center-of-self'' located between the thighs. This
power is associated with strong feminine and androgynous
characteristics that is maintained by the generation and flow of an
inner creative fluid called soma (the mystical elixir of the Vedas).
Because it is the source of powers, knowledge, and ecstasy of living,
this center provides a connection directly to Heaven. The opening of
this heart is reached through what is called matrena or the union of
the "Sun" and "Moon". Upon opening the heart, one finds the mystical
gifts and powers described by the world's major religions as well as
the very physical forces utilized by the original martial arts. The
Sun, Moon and created Heaven which constitute the basis of The Golden
Triangle is found to have been at one time universal and expressed in
many ways throughout the world.

The Golden Triangle was written for you if you are an active, creative
person who has found inexplicable changes in your mind and body that
include six or more of the following:

a) inexplicable pleasurable sexual-like or upward rushes of feelings,
b) sensations of an increased opening or sensitivity of the perineum,
c) feelings of being androgynous or having opposite sex
characteristics,
d) perceiving the nature of the world as different from what you were
taught,
e) increased faith in your own goals in life or a sense that your
dedications are coming to fruition,
f) pressures in the head and chest initiated with slight or subtle
emotions,
g) strengthened drive to understand the self and life,
h) increased awareness of inner ringing of the ear (tinnitus) or in
the head,
i) some ability to intentionally change your world and how you feel,
j) moments of transcendence in levels of awareness or consciousness,
k) increased sense of softness, tenderness toward others or more
people,
l) increased desire to have more intimacy (non-sexual) with others,
m) feelings of not belonging and being separated from others.


The contents of this book are also the result of an extensive
verification of the esoteric models and practices by several large
groups of volunteer middle class Americans (without any exchange of
money). These people were willing to attempt to undergo and evaluate
each exercise or practice to determine its fitness and value in
today's world. After 20 years of research and practices, it was
concluded that participants would find changes in the physiology of
the body and increases in mental capabilities that agree in general
with those mentioned in ancient writings. It also became evident that
another mode of presentation of these practices was required for the
modern age and that the participants' efforts also helped to produce
those modes of presentation.

The author wishes to honor the traditions of India that maintained,
preserved and revered the ancient documents without burning,
destroying, or excessively modifying them as was commonly done in
Western history. The author also pays homage to the early sages and
teachers who wrote in such a remarkable manner that their Truths could
be discerned in the modern world. Also, this book could not have
materialized without the continual dedication of those supportive
people seeking to explore the relevancy of the ancient writings to
today's world. The author also honors the couples who meticulously
worked and experimented with the "yoni" couplings of "maithuna" and
reported their findings. The author offers his thanks to these
generous people and to their faith that the ancient truths could be
enlivened in the midst of the market place of our materialistic
society.

WARNING 

The disciplines in this book work with the interaction of the body and
mind. The body can be stimulated, for instance, to increase sensory
perception, strength, sensitivity, and the power to give reality to
the constructs of the mind. If the body is stimulated without the
necessary mental controls, the mind can become deeply depressed,
fearful, or aggressive. Similarly, if the mind is developed without
the necessary physical development, the body can become more
stimulated than it can withstand, resulting in severe damage and
possible death. As an example, imagine placing your present mind in
the body of a child, or the mind of a child within your body.

You should be careful in seeking personal assistance. Masters of the
spiritual path do not profit from their services and the reader should
avoid seeking assistance from anyone who requires a fee or donation
for guidance. Since the results of the included practices are
systemic, any Master should be able to explain all of your symptoms or
problems based only on a few interrogative questions or observations.
No Master needs to revert to any further analysis. Do not entrust
yourself to the guidance of anyone who has not directly experienced
your level of development as well as the higher levels.

  
Chapter 1

An Introduction 

The Golden Triangle recovers some of the keys to the powers described
in the ancient writings by the discovery and translation of a very
ancient Sanskrit document called the Paratrimshika or the Thirty
Transcending Statements. These thirty short concise maxims, which date
back long before the Christian era, do in fact open unknown doors that
can lead you into the ecstasy and powers of life promised by so many
of the world's mystical and religious writings.

The first invaluable contribution of the Paratrimshika is the
presentation of some basic and very surprising definitions of terms
used in many of the old writings. Without these proper definitions, it
is easy to see how so much confusion about and misuse of the old
religious and philosophical writings and teachings prevail today. For
instance, consider your present definitions and feelings about the
basic religious words: "heaven", "heart" and "spirit". You no doubt
find these terms vague and abstract with little relationship to your
daily life. As will be shortly demonstrated, the Paratrimshika defines
these terms as relating to definite places and forces that exist
within or emanate out of the lower abdominal region of your body,
controlled by an almost unknown yet physically manifest organ which
requires specific exercises for its full development.

As a brief introduction, "Heaven" as used in the old texts is not a
place of your afterlife. Your "heart" is in fact the center of your
existence, but is not in the head or chest. "Spirit" refers to an
indwelling and controllable power that lies behind the supernormal and
largely unexplained feats accomplished by individuals. The amazing
Paratrimshika provides the long lost definitions of many of these
mystical terms used around the world and provides the clues for
finding a deeper understanding of many of the early writings and
claims of Alchemy, the martial arts, Yoga, the Tao, Christianity as
well as other mystical writings. With accurate definitions, the
difference between the religious, mystical, and scientific fields also
diminishes. It will also be shown that science is really built upon
the ancient mystical four elements with a viewpoint of energy that is
compatible with the forefront of modern physics today. Modern
physiology and psychology have "thrown the baby out with the bath
water" in by-passing subjective feelings. Instead of finding feelings
subjective, the ancient Masters found many of them to be definitely
objective physiological changes as will be discussed.

Another contribution of the Paratrimshika to the modern age is to
point to the universality of the ancient writings. As an example, the
meaning of the "One becoming Two" (A Creator starting with the
creation of two items) is found in nearly the same wording in the
Paratrimshika of Northern India, the Te Tao Ching of China, and in The
Emerald Table of ancient Egypt. The "Two" is also generally described
as the "Sun and Moon" or as an equivalent the "Masculine and
Feminine". The "Two" also has two locations, either in the Heavens
above or within you. It is the indwelling "Sun and Moon" that provide
the powers to transform your world.

Another important teaching to be gained from the Paratrimshika is that
many of the important ancient mystical documents were written as
technical discourses that intended to elucidate important concepts
rather than to simply inspire or preach. As technical writings, they
can be compared to modern papers written on physics, psychology,
chemistry, or other technical subjects that require a prior knowledge
of the technical terms and their usage. Another important requirement
of technical papers is that there must be a step-by-step reading of
the text. You cannot take isolated statements out of text or attempt
to randomly read the text out of order by skipping unintelligible
paragraphs.

Perhaps the most startling aspects of the Paratrimshika are its
references to androgyny as a necessity for evolution or transcendence.
The Paratrimshika describes the center of androgyny as being within
the "yoni". This connection clarifies the classical writings of Yoga
which describe the location and activity of a yoni although generally
misunderstood as being the female pudenda. It is also apparent upon
reflection that androgyny appears in many of the world's early
religious writings. For instance, many writings speak of sexual
changes before ascending to higher realms. The union with the Divine
is often described as entering into a sexual tryst with the Divine
with a sexual role reversal. Another interesting point is that the
traditional Priests from many religions can be identified because of
the feminine nature of their garb. The source of this custom is no
doubt long forgotten.

The Paratrimshika identifies the source of androgyny as resulting from
the union of your inner Sun and Moon. This Sun and Moon in their union
create your personal Heaven or perfected world. The inner Sun, Moon,
and inner Heaven constitute a Trinity that corresponds to another
external Trinity of Sun, Moon, and Earth. The ancient esoteric or
secret powers lay in the control of the inner Sun and Moon and this
was done in part by stimulating their dwelling place in the yoni.

The thirty statements of the Paratrimshika when combined with the
extant mystical teachings, modern science, and experimental
verifications form the basis of The Golden Triangle. The original
philosophies taught that there is an underlying spiritual formation
that precedes the physical manifestation of everything that you
experience. This means that there is a real aspect of entelechy or
directed and defined will power that must be addressed if you truly
desire to find change or evolution in your daily life. However, to
change your world and Self, there likewise must be a change within the
physical body and its chemistry in order to connect the physical with
the subtle or spiritual realms. This change corresponds to the rapid
changes taking place in pre-pubescent children that, as will be
discussed, are associated with intense lower abdominal activity.
Although this activity is suppressed by our society as children
mature, some adults can remember the strong sexual-like feelings
associated with this state of the body and the associated zest,
fervor, and passion for life. Many of the monastic-type practices used
around the world loosen the abdominal tensions and mental controls
gained in growing to adulthood such that the creative energy of
childhood can be reclaimed.

  

Chapter 2

The Emerald Table and the Paratrimshika 

One of the oldest (first Century AD) and most revered writings on the
arcane science of Alchemy is The Emerald Table written by the
legendary father of Alchemy, Hermes Trismegistus (Messenger of the
Three powers). The Emerald Table survived through the ages because as
brief as it is, it has a strong impact on most readers as somehow
touching upon some very important truth. For the majority of people,
Alchemy has been perceived as a route to fabulous material wealth
through the conversion of lead to gold and this no doubt kept the
writings from being burned. A much smaller number of people, however,
perceive it as a possible guide to the perfection of the Self and it
is for these few people that many of the ancient documents and this
book were written.

Several beginning exemplary comparisons can be made between the
"conversion" processes spoken of by the Alchemists and by the early
Christians (not related to today's usage of the word "conversion").
The Alchemists described their reaction vessel in which the conversion
took place as the "Athanor" similar in shape and size to the human
body. The athanor can also be compared with the water vessels of
similar size described in the Wedding at Cana in the Bible. Alchemy
used the infusion of "immortal fire" or ignis innaturalis into the
athanor, while Christianity describes the conversion process by the
infusion of "Spirit" into the water vessels for the conversion of
water into wine. (Indian models used a similar model with soma as will
be discussed later.) The Alchemists describe the end result of the
conversion process as pure refined gold whereas the Christians
describe it as vintage wine. The use of wine (or leavened bread) was
an allegorical term characteristic of the early Western philosophers.
This usage was based upon their belief that the conversion of grapes
(or flour) into a higher form could be compared to the change in
individuals as they opened to a Divine Spirit.

One characteristic of early religious writings is that they contain
two or more levels of understanding. The upper level or most widely
understood level was generally politically correct for its time or was
acceptable to the majority of people. The lower or hidden levels were
only understood by a small percentage of readers who would be those
few who had "ears to hear" as described by Jesus. If you have the
"ears to hear" you can perceive the two levels of writing in the story
of the Wedding at Cana. The average person desires magical powers and
only reads the story as depicting super powers that would impress
their friends. If, however, the readers are seeking union with a
higher power or the joy of life, then they see the transformation of
water in the water vessels as an allegory for the infusion of some
transfomational "Spirit" within their own bodies or the injection of a
higher state of consciousness into themselves. This hidden level of
teaching refers to the greatest of miracles which far exceeds the
magic of making wine.

In unraveling the "secrets" of the ancient writings, it must be
understood that these were not secrets but rather "truths" to those
individuals who had already mastered their social world and had some
experiences with their inner vital forces and processes. These ancient
writings were, however, veiled and misdirecting to those who were
seeking power, gold, wine and sex. To those individuals, the writings
became sacred and were worshiped as a potential source for satisfying
their lusts. If this element had not been written into the documents
they might not have survived, particularly if they were to be
preserved by greedy or power hungry institutional leaders.

Before proceeding on, it is helpful to also mention again that many of
the original mystical writings were very technical in nature. This
means that the ancients were careful to define their terms that were
inserted into the text. You cannot take a line or verse out of context
in these writings since all of the thoughts must build upon and be
consistent with the others. (All of the points being raised will be
discussed in detail later, but it would be timely for the reader who
likes to jump about in a book to be patient and recognize the
importance of the "step-by-step" or krama process described by the
early writers. This will become evident with later detailed
discussions of some of the writings.)

The terms and their meanings, which are obtained by the careful
step-by-step analysis of the documents, will be described in detail in
later chapters, but to simplify the initial reading, a few of the
resulting critical definitions are listed below. (A more complete
Sanskrit Dictionary is given at the end of the book in the Appendix.)

Sun and Moon: the universal symbols for the Masculine and Feminine
such as the Yang and Yin of the Chinese or the un-manifest and
manifest natures or forces. Personified in many religions as an
indwelling God and Goddess (in the inner Heaven described below).
Hridayam: "Heart" as the center of action or of life and not the
beating heart in the chest. The hridayam is located within the sexual
region or in the yoni.
Mantra: the intentional mental creation or conative process. 
Mudra: the manifesting of that mental creation or mantra. 
Tantra: is the advanced Yoga system dealing with the inner energies of
the body.
Shiva: an indwelling God and the source of the masculine powers. 
Soma: (ambrosia of Greek Gods) is the mystical fluid of the Rig Veda
with its source in the yoni. It is related to the Moon and the
feminine inner power of Shakti.
Yoni: is like a female sexual center, but found in both men and women,
and the source of soma.
Heaven: is the highest state of existence or anuttara. It is the same
as the Bible's term of "the kingdom of Heaven "within" you and not a
future place after death.


The Emerald Table
From Hermes Trismegistus, 1st Century 
It is true, that as it is above, so it is below.
All things are from the One, by the One becoming Two.
The Sun is the Father, the Mother is the Moon.
The breath has carried it to the belly and the body nurtures.
The gateway to perfection is now opened through this potential lying
in the depths of the physical.
Only with the greatest care, is the physical separated from the subtle
or the subtle from the physical.
It rises from the depths to the heights;
descends, while the higher and lower magnify the power.
The promise is as follows:
The world in all its glory is seen with clarity and wisdom.
More powerful than strength and force, solid and subtle are conquered,
and thus all is created, that which is, and the perfection of
tomorrow.


This Page will continue with the full recently translated document,
however the Golden Triangle book presents a comparison between two
documents.


The Paratrimshika
Unknown, before 500 B.C.E. 
1) Devi asks Deva; how can Tantrik powers quickly open the kingdom of
Heaven with the knowledge of matrena that opens the path to heaven?
Tell me of this hidden aspect of myself which shines forth largely
unhidden.
2) Tell me Deva about that Tantrik power that resides in the hridaya
as the ruling feminine power of the body, (and tell me) in what way
can I find fulfillment?
3) The illustrious feminine power is the source of great Divine gifts
in the kingdom of Heaven.
4) By maintaining Tantrik practices, the desired world is made real,
thrust forth from the Heaven within your heart (hridaya). I am
revealing to you the powers of the kingdom of Heaven.
5) Now! We Begin with: all of the reality of heaven can be found to be
built on, and becomes manifest with the subtle union of the Moon and
Sun.
6) The physical or manifest is in union with the creative force in the
evolving world. Evolution proceeds step by step from one realm to
another, as the letter "Ka" to the letter "Ma".
7) There are four supporting elements of reality: air, fire, flowing
water, and manifested earth. From these there arises a shining forth
proceeding the developing of the expansive world.
8) Without beginning, they are the steps of bringing forth all that is
known, experienced and created. Everything is truly mantra, knowledge,
and glorious.
9) This yoni is filled with the 'shining forth' of the four
illustrious elements in balance with the expansive world.
10) The third nature of Brahma or the hridayam between the thighs
unites the Soul with the Divine. Those who do not have the existence
as a yogini or the state of androgyny, as did the god Rudra, cannot
break forth.
11) This hridayam is the dwelling place of the God of Gods and is the
source of union with liberation at the same time. Ascending (beyond)
is accomplished with the uniting of the great mantra and mudra.
12) At the moment of opening, the body moves expressing the union with
a continuing expression and enjoyment of sensual and ecstatic
up-flowing feelings associated with a mudra.
13) At that time, one attains the empirical form of the mantra-mudra,
which was created in the future and became manifest in the present.
14) The thoughts can be thrust forward into time by the androgynous
power of Rudra to make a clearly manifest and real spiritual shining
form.
15) The thrusting forth of these three: energy of mantra and mudra
with pure consciousness brings forth complete true knowledge and the
higher powers of the yogi (masculine).
16) The inner great masculine power directs and sets in motion the
coming together of the creative powers.
17) The inner perceptive powerful drive results in the obtaining of
mantra and the power over the faultless manifest.
18) The junction of the two Tantrik powers brings forth all of the
powers in the form of a flowing unseen creative fluid (soma).
19) The unseen fertile fluid moves, and thus, with this motion,
reality is known, portion of his powers come into their own existence,
he is a yogini (feminine), he is also initiated.
20) Being blameless and with the knowledge of matrena, knows all of
the powers (shaktis). Even without the training of yoga, becomes one
with the assembly of shakinis.
21) However, without knowing the rules, he brings forth worship. 
22) The manifested world is first begun with matrena, then shaped with
maya. The masculine force pervades the boundless created world with
its three mentally created powers of spiritual creation, destruction
and maintenance.
23) The inner continual process of life becomes a pure path for the
one who perseveres in the rules. It quickly opens to the knowledge of
the inner sovereign powers.
24) Because of the radiant fluid (soma) one is a great Soul, knowing
the masculine powers of Shiva and all things, One is without sin,
one's will and exertions become pure and shining.
25) As the great banyan tree is contained within the energy of its
seed, so also is the evolutionary upper 'kingdom of Heaven' contained
as a seed in the hridaya.
26) Truly, bound with the knowledge of the true state, the reaching
for oblivion (nirvana) fades away, dedication comes into existence;
doubts, anointings and impressive religious ceremonies are abandoned.
27) Having made the object of worship manifest and united with that
seed, the goal is reached.
28) The inner seed bursts forward as the Moon becomes full, coming
forth from the inner lotus of the heart meditation with soma exerting
one's own security.
29) Whatever is desired and made a dedication to, becomes reality. The
power of knowing all is not reached for but rather abides within.
30) This manifested mantra bursts forth from the combined masculine
and feminine powers to attain all knowledge and powers.

  

 
Chapter 3

The One, the Two, and Trinity 

The ancient sages looked to the sky for their explanations or models
of the creation and maintenance of the earth and its dwellers. As the
sages formulated models of how the earth was created by the Heavens
above, they found that these same models could also be allegories for
what happened within their own personal manifest world. Many sages, as
their experience and wisdom increased, discovered that the powers
ascribed to the celestial objects were found to be powers within their
own minds and bodies as will be presented in this and following
chapters.

The statement from The Emerald Table about the "One" is an excellent
starting point for the discussion of the early philosophies. The "One"
according to The Emerald Table is the source or creator of the Sun and
Moon that consequently became the creators of the Earth. This concept
of creation is almost universal in the major religions with the Sun
and Moon being generally described as Masculine (Father) and Feminine
(Mother) forces. Many of the ancient paintings depicting masculine
gods or divine beings, portrayed their divinity with the disk or halo
of the sun behind their heads while some of the feminine deities had a
disk similar to the moon similarly placed behind their heads.

To approach the physical models used in the ancient writings, it is
necessary to set aside much of modern wisdom and to see and feel the
world with the senses. With this approach, it is obvious that the sun
and moon rule the sky, but what the modern person forgets is that the
sun and moon are both the exact same size (to the eyes). The size and
nature of the sun and moon was determined during the solar eclipse
when the moon exactly covered the face or surface of the sun and
showed the outer ring of fire around the solar disk. The moon could be
perceived as a solid disk (or possibly a ball) capable of hiding or
covering the sun, while the sun appeared as a luminous disk of fire
the same size as the moon. Since the two appeared the same size
occupying the same sky, it was easy for the ancients to assume
therefore, that originally the two were one, with the fire of the sun
attached to and covering the moon. The fire may then be assumed to
have dropped away earlier from the moon much as a ball of hot pitch
will drop away from a burning stick and burst into flame as it falls.
The sun and moon therefore, can be considered to have come from the
"One" and are two separate manifestations of the "One".

To the ancients the characteristics of the sun were quite obvious. The
sun was vaporous without solidity, radiating heat and light similar to
a flame. The sun controlled the seasons as well as the day and night.
The sun was known to increase the creative power of the mind and
increase awareness of the world and appeared to be the power source
for life as well as for consciousness. Under the full power of the
sun, the activity of life increased.

Unlike the ancients, the modern philosophers largely ignore the
characteristics of the moon as well as its cyclical phases. Even the
effect of the lunar month upon the menstrual cycle is forgotten and is
minimized as the inner electrical lights at night in modern homes
counter the varying intensity of the lunar light. The passive
nurturing nature of the moon is also lost in the lights of the cities
and homes. Many of the medical people report the strange effects of
the full moon on the body and mind that were accepted as real to the
ancients living under the moon. Whereas the sun appeared to control
the cycles of nature, the moon was assumed to control the personal
lives of humans and became the time clock for religious observations
and special social events. Related to the social and personal timing
was the height of the seas or the tides that resulted also from some
hidden powers of the moon. Because of its passive, hidden yet personal
powers, the moon was related to the universal feminine force while the
dominating, driving, heating, creative powers of the sun were equated
to the masculine nature.

In addition to perceiving the sun and moon as celestial powers, the
ancients also observed five very strange and unique "stars" that
wandered around the night sky seemingly independent of the rest of the
stars marching in step across the night sky. These five "stars" we now
know to be planets and in fact do appear to wander randomly through
the sky each with its own unique path, brightness, or color. This
uniqueness suggests individuality and freedom from the rigid
disciplined motion of the multitude of stars. It would be natural for
the ancients to contrive stories of these aberrant sources of light
suggestive or symbolic of forces controlling those people below who
did not march in unison with the majority of people through life.

Without elaborating on the powers associated with these wandering
planets, it is important to mention that the forces or natures
symbolized by them became fairly universal. It follows that the sun
and the moon plus the five wanderers became the symbolic basis for
seven un-seen, unpredictable, and powerful forces affecting life.
These forces or celestial objects were also symbolized by
unpredictable anthropomorphic figures or gods who were easy to
visualize. These seven forces, celestial bodies, or gods became the
basis for the seven levels of individual attainment or evolution. As
they were worshiped or appeased they became associated with the seven
days of the week. As an example, Sunday, or the day of the Sun became
the day of worship of the creative source in many cultures. It was
because of these seven celestial objects that the number seven took on
mystical significance implying the full powers of the Celestial Heaven
such as were used in many of the various apocalyptic or expositional
religious writings.

The response of the people to this concept of the Celestial Powers
took two routes. The first route led to the worship of these Powers in
order to modify or change their life here below. This route led to the
development of churches, temples, and priesthoods as intermediaries
between the populace and the Celestial Heavenly Powers. The second
route started with the recognition that some individuals appeared to
have powers akin to those associated with the Celestial Heavenly
Powers and were quite superior to others. In studying these
accomplished individuals, it became clear that there were certain
things or practices that these evolved people did which could be
equated to the development of specific powers. These "things" were
found to be universal and became the practices or sadhanas of Tantra.
This study therefore resulted in the acquiring of the wisdom about the
forces and powers within the Self as well as the practices that
enhanced or controlled them. This effort resulted in the development
of the Tantrik systems as well as the later Alchemical, mystical and
esoteric schools and the following scientific disciplines such as
Chemistry, Physics, Biology, etc. At the same time, there appeared
another model of creation and control which centered itself within the
individual rather than within the celestial Heaven above. As will be
discussed, as the celestial Heaven above could create the physical
world, so too could an inner Heaven within you create an outer
experiential world that could also become a Heaven. The inner Heaven
contained the equivalents of the Celestial Sun and Moon.

One important philosophical point presented in the above model of the
sun and moon is the creation of a dyad (two elements with opposite
characteristics) from nothing or the "One". This creation of dyads can
be used to explain the nature of bringing forth your own creations
from nothing. It can be assumed that if the elements of a dyad are in
fact true opposites, then when they are combined they will equally
interact together and annihilate each other leaving nothing. This
resulting nothingness should therefore contain the combined two
elements and hence, they should be able to be pulled forth later as
two separate elements. As an example of this thinking, many
theoretical physicists accept the concept of the existence of matter
and anti-matter, which when brought together results in the
annihilation of both. Another example is given with the Black Holes in
space into which matter disappears.

The creation of the universe out of nothing by creating the
matter/anti-matter dyad seems somewhat logical to explain where things
came from. Heat pumps are another example. If heat is removed from a
container of water at room temperature and put into another container
of water also at room temperature, the first container of water
becomes cold while the other becomes hot. If the two containers are
then mixed together, the resultant temperature is the starting
temperature of the first container. In this case, you may argue that
you are creating heat and cold from something akin to the nothing. You
might imagine a large tank of black paint that contains, of course,
all colors that make it black. It is possible that you could remove
the various colors with some filter or process which would give you
many different colored paints which when re-mixed together later would
result with the original black paint.

The Western world uses a Dyad model similar to that of the sun and
moon to explain your creation or existence. The Bible states that you
are formed of two opposites: the spirit (Sun) that comes from God and
dust (Moon) that comes from the earth. When you die these elements
return to their source as stated in the burial ceremonies of the West.
It should be noted that it takes energy of the right type in all of
the above examples to bring forth opposites from nothing, as will be
explained later in regards to creating your own realities.

Creation can therefore proceed from nothing by the creation of
opposites that would return to nothing or neutrality if brought
together. This idea was expanded to include such dyads as: manifest
and spiritual, life and death, hot and cold, light and dark, expansion
and contraction, good and evil, positive and negative, etc. This
expanded system of duality was named the "Two Truths" in early Egypt
and served as the basis for many of the dualistic (dvaita)
philosophical and religious developments.

Monism (advaita) or "Oneness" was based upon the primary consideration
of the Nothingness from which the Dyads appeared. The Nothingness that
can divide into opposing elements to create reality must originally
have had the characteristics of the elements of the Dyads and hence
cannot be truly nothing. Similarly, each element of a Dyad cannot be
considered to be truly real since it exists only as a particular
manifestation of the Nothing and quickly can return to nothing. This
statement, although difficult to grasp with the modern brain, has been
expressed in equally abstract modern concepts such as all of creation
came forth from God who created the male and female, or creation came
forth from Brahma who created Shiva (male) and Shakti (female.) The
early Vedas described Indra who preceded Agni and Soma or Sun and
Moon.

There is, of course, the generally accepted monistic philosophy of the
Materialists which states that everything is physical with no
spiritual counterpart. This philosophical view is atheistic and does
not need refutation in this book.

There is another more integrative philosophical approach that
considers that Nothing, as the Source by itself, is not real and only
becomes real with the advent of the Dyad. Reality therefore must
include both the Source and the Dyad. This approach using the Source
and the two created elements can be called Trinitarian and is found in
most religious descriptions of the manifesting of reality. In general
the "One" is expressed as the creative source or the ideation of the
creation. The Sun (masculine force) is the process or energy of the
bringing forth of the creation and the Moon (feminine force) is the
manifested creation.

Any world that you find yourself in whether dream, real, past, future,
parallel, or the self-created, has these three elements which define
it or describe it. Most religions contain a Trinity encompassing these
three elements which is symbolized within this book as the Golden
Triangle. For instance, Buddhism and Hinduism describe the world as
having:

spiritual, 
energizing, as well as 
physical attributes. 
The Bible similarly describes the world as consisting of: 

a Creator, 
a manifesting Spirit, and 
the manifested Creation. 
The following text will use the three elements with the descriptions
given in the Paratrimshika as:

the Creative, 
the process of manifesting or Mantra, and 
the manifested or Mudra. 
  

Chapter 4

Bondage 

Bondage is a universal religious and philosophical term and it is used
therein to mean enslavement to your own past. Bondage is normally tied
to sin that has the universal religious connotation of being that
which keeps you from reaching the rewards of life or the realization
of your own dedications. A very important consideration is that what
might be a sin to you such as lust may be a blessing and a positive
force to a growing child as will be discussed in Chapter Seven.

For almost all people in all cultures, social laws must be first
learned and then obeyed. The citizens are therefore put into bondage
of law. These laws are necessary for the growth of the children of
that culture and hence cannot be labeled as sins. However, can the law
become a sin to an individual who has followed and mastered the law?
In other words, can the law keep an individual from further rewards of
life? Does following the law lead to the ultimate or only reward in
life? These questions are debated within many religions and can be
bypassed for the moment with yet another question, "Is there anything
higher than society and its law? " This last question is the basis for
this first section of this book. In seeking the answer, the old story
of Adam and Eve will be considered.

The story of the "Garden of Eden" is like many ancient religious
stories in that there are generally two levels of understanding. The
first level corresponds to the politically correct teachings of the
time. The second level is called a hidden teaching open only to those
who have attained a certain level of evolution. As you read the
following version of the famous story watch your own reactions and
look for problems that hinder you from following the narrative as an
indication of your own bondage.

In the second level, or rendition of the Garden of Eden, the heroes or
good guys will be the serpent and Eve. This is in contrast with the
normally accepted version in which they are the villains. As you read
the story without the first and normal interpretation, another picture
looms quite clear, that Adam and Eve are "pets" or watchdogs of the
garden. The Bible states that they were created to "dress" and "keep"
the garden. The original Hebrew words used to describe their position
are: "aw-bad" (dress) that means to be enslaved in bondage while
"shaw-mar" (keep) is to guard. Apparently the gods felt that this
particular pair of animals out of all of the different other types
that they created might make good watch dogs. They were given all that
they needed in terms of necessary food, shelter, etc. and all they had
to do in turn was to be the watchdogs. The other central character in
this scenario is the serpent. The Hebrew word for this serpent comes
from "maw-cash" which means to hiss as whispering a magical
incantation. The serpent was symbolic in most of the world for rebirth
since it would crawl out of its old skin and grow a new one. As will
be discussed later, the Tantrik system describes a "serpent" that
lives in your sexual region and is capable of waking you and teaching
you as does the serpent in this story.

As the hidden story unfolds, it becomes obvious that Eve is terrible
as a watchdog. The essence of her "sin" is that instead of running a
serpent out of the garden as instructed she converses with it and
befriends it. Who wants to keep a pair of watchdogs who not only let
intruders in, but also befriend them? So of course the gods ultimately
kicked this pair out of the garden, and we can only assume that they
then tried to breed a better pair.

Now the serpent was, in fact, wiser than the gods and could see the
potential in this pair of animals. In fact, it could see that this
pair of humans had more promise than any of the other animals that the
gods had created and perhaps even more than the gods themselves.
Therefore, the serpent told Eve of a source of knowledge that could
offer her and her mate the possibility of ultimately becoming as great
as or even greater than the gods by eating the fruit of the tree of
good and evil. Of course this possibility included hard work, pain,
frustration, and challenges as well as joy. To get started on this
path she had to sacrifice her security and tranquillity, as well as
her insipid and insentient life. The attainment of knowledge opened
her eyes to her own bondage and offered freedom from the confinement
in the garden or kennel. This freedom shifted the responsibility for
her life from the gods to herself. She chose to listen to the serpent,
to eat of the fruit, and then to coerce Adam also to eat of it. This
ability to guide and influence Adam also justifies her name as "life
giver". Modern women are endowed with the potential of this "life
giving" power, called adhisthana in Tantrik writings, but generally
are unaware of it and do not use it due to their conditioned roles in
society.

To return to an overview of this story, the first level of
interpretation is generally used with children giving the teaching
that if you do not obey the laws you may be punished with banishment.
To a child could there be any greater punishment than to be banned
from the security of his family? This version also teaches how other
people may attempt to mislead you and cause you to lose all that you
have. What parent is against this teaching? The main theme of the
Garden of Eden is how wonderful it is and how you should appreciate it
and do what ever is necessary to stay there. If this is transferred to
loving and honoring your home, then this becomes a very positive
teaching indeed.

Does this first level of interpretation, however, apply to adults as
well as children? Are there not a majority of adults who cling tightly
to security and refuse to open their worlds to other ideas, concepts,
or teachings? They may very well defend their cherished ideas with
their lives hoping for a future reward for their valor and view people
with other viewpoints as threatening. To these people, the first
interpretation is a panacea and an encouragement to try harder.

To discuss the second meaning of the story requires a great deal more
effort. It must start with an understanding of bondage. Bondage is
absolutely necessary if societies or social institutions are to remain
stable. The members of any social group must conform to relevant
requirements of skills, conduct, and purpose. The power and rights of
a stable society must always be greater than those of an individual,
and individual rights are well defined within the interests of that
society. As an example, can you imagine driving down a high-speed
freeway at 60 miles per hour with on-coming traffic without everyone
observing the law? How long would your electrical power remain on if
there were no laws concerning who ran the plants or maintained the
machinery?

Bondage starts with social conditioning performed by families,
churches, schools, and governments. As a child you were taught to
follow laws beginning at a very early age with "potty" training during
which you had to give up the control of your bowel movements to a
higher authority. This was followed with the further suppression of
basic instinctual impulses such as your hunger drive that was modified
by table manners. Your language was impressed upon you along with a
sense of values and definitions. Your basic fears were replaced with
forced beliefs, inquisitiveness was replaced with fear of failure, and
your sensual nature was replaced with shame about parts of your body.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this process was the loss of
feeling sensual or just physically good as the body was disciplined to
become socially acceptable.

This early training or conditioning is not sufficient since there must
also be a constant reminder or corrective force if a child veers away
from the proper conduct. Societies utilize body language to enforce
proper behavior and children are taught to become very much aware of
it. For instance, a frown from someone instantly sets up tension
within the child and the brain quickly reviews the current behavior
with judgments as to acceptability. A parent will speak of how well
their child behaves if they can control the child with just an
approving or disapproving look.

A growing child is perceived by social institutions in terms of some
future role in society. The child's conduct, manners, skills, and
personality are then shaped to approach the idealized model of that
future person. During this process, children are taught to be "true"
to that role. The idealized person will have the traits of the
teaching institution. For instance, a Catholic Church will tend to
produce a person with Catholic beliefs, a farm family tends to produce
farmers, and professionals raise teachers, doctors, lawyers, etc. The
spoken language, gestures, dress habits, manners, and religious and
moralistic views are all impressed in a child by social institutions
during early formative years.

A subtle balance in behavior is maintained within a culture by the
maintenance of two opposing forces controlling individual conduct. The
opposing forces are recognized as "shoulds" conflicting with "should
nots". For example, you should not be disrespectful to another person,
but also you should not lie; you should not drive fast, but should not
be late; you should think kind thoughts, but you should protect
yourself from harm. For almost every "should" there is an opposing
"should not". The "shoulds" and "should nots" can be compared with the
expansive and contractive forces discussed in Chapter Seven.
Self-control is therefore built upon pure frustration, you can never
reach "perfection" since your conditioning prevents it. For instance,
you want to succeed, but you should not be greater or better than
those around you or else some calamity will happen. Similarly, you
cannot fail so you flounder in between being a failure and a success.
The controlling process ranges from uncomfortable to painful as we
attempt to satisfy both the "shoulds" and the "should nots". The
attempt results in maintaining a relatively unstable middle ground
that provides the appearance of being in control. Experts in
manipulating people are aware of this instability and can deliberately
force the mind into one emotion after another until you become
uncontrolled, and unable to manage the large swing of emotions. The
manipulator can thus gain control. As an example, if a speaker adds a
joke in the middle of a serious speech, the response of the audience
will be far greater than if the joke were told in a normal social
environment. If this joke is then followed with a statement that
arouses fear, the fear will be far more intense than the humor. An
experienced speaker can therefore sway the audience by controlling the
sequencing of emotions while continuing to increase the intensity of
them until the desired emotion or feelings are obtained.

The modern way of life is one of control and tension in which you
attempt to present a rigid and fixed image of yourself to the outer
world and to hide your real Self from scrutiny. The image to be
presented is largely determined by television commercials and popular
programs that present the "perfect bodies" or at least those that are
in current vogue. Tummies are pulled in and the buttocks are tucked
under, the shoulders are relaxed and eased forward while the head and
neck are projected forward. You speak in a certain manner and what you
say must likewise be currently acceptable and what is even more
frightening is that even what you think or feel must be subject to
social acceptance. You are aware of a definite image of what you want
to be and that image is made real. It is the reality and rigidity of
the Self that proves the power of all of the social conditioning.

Once you take on a persona of being what you think you should be, it
becomes hardened in place by your family and associates. If you fail
to respond in accordance with your role, the people around you will
let you know that you are not being yourself or inquire into what is
wrong with you. As an example, if you forget to comb your hair, or
speak from a different political view point, your friends will quickly
bring it to your attention. This is part of the problem visiting your
parents because they expect you to behave and respond like you did as
a child.

One of the higher powers cited by Yoga is the power of discrimination
and this is required to fully ascertain the forces that have you in
bondage. The early Christians called it "proving all things".
Unfortunately the modern culture is taught to believe rather than to
prove or think and institutions take advantage of this serious lack in
your development. As an example of how this lack of discrimination is
used to put you further into bondage, consider the medical profession.
This well organized group uses fear to persuade large numbers of
people to buy services offered by government or insurance supported
programs that guarantee health protection.

As an example, at the moment, breast cancer is being used to sell
breast cancer clinics, research programs, and even more publications.
The scandal starts with the statement that one in nine women will
develop breast cancer. In order to obtain bondage to these programs,
the news media add more fear and presently imply that one in nine
women will die of cancer, but getting an examination will save your
life. With a bit of discrimination, the actual death rate per year
from breast cancer is less than 0.05% whereas one in nine is over 11%.
A bit of digging into the government statistics shows an even more
revealing picture of medicine as indicated in Tables 5, 6, and 7 in
the Appendix. The graphics all demonstrate that advances in modern
medicine, including the introduction of the miracle drugs and intense
cancer therapies, fail to show any increase in longevity. (The
increase in deaths around 1920 shown in Table 6 was due to a flu
epidemic.) If modern medicine did in fact cure major diseases then
there should be a fast drop in death rates starting in the middle
40's, yet no deviation in any of the curves can be noted. There is no
significant difference between people who buy all of the health
benefits they can, and Christian Scientists or people in Third World
countries who use very little medicine if any. There simply is no
evidence that medicine causes you to live longer.

However, products of the Western technology such as the common window
screen, modern sanitation as well as an improved diet, can be related
to an increase in life expectancy for infants and children.
Surprisingly, this does not hold for senior citizens who still live
about the same allotted years as their forefathers (see Table 7.) The
death rate from cancer is increasing slightly each year and for breast
cancer this can be attributed to a number of possible non-medical
reasons. The most obvious reason is that women are living longer
(cancer is primarily a problem of old age.) Also, some less often
considered reasons are the restriction of breast movement and reduced
stimulation (as will be discussed later.)

One of the most insidious aspects of social bondage is the
conditioning that you are not in bondage! The majority of people and
for the majority of the time believe that they control their own
lives, thoughts, and actions. The Book of Thomas gives an excellent
test for how much control you have when it suggests that if you cannot
take off your clothes and stand on them (in public), you are in
bondage. To most people this test is impossible because of their
conditioned view of themselves and of others. As you look more deeply
into your behavior, the dominance of past learning or past programming
(to use a computer concept) becomes evident. You are not completely
free to do as you wish, and this becomes even more disturbing as you
realize that your wishes are also programmed.

There are two major methods of breaking free from bondage to the body
or conditioning. Both of these methods are primarily centered upon the
senses of the body. The first is the path of asceticism wherein you
break free of conditioned responses by diminishing your desires
through the denial of any pleasures and the adherence to a totally
enveloping law of conduct. The second is to increase the senses such
that you look for more pleasure, trusting in a guidance or law beyond
society and your own conditioned desires and thoughts. The two paths
of following religious law or seeking a higher law were debated by the
early members of Christian groups, particularly since many of the
early members were Jewish with a heavy tradition of obedience to the
law. The path of law adherence and social obedience must be viewed as
a necessary beginning path (for almost everyone) as the Self is
developed and prepared for evolution. As Saint Paul in the Bible
teaches, there are two laws, the lower and the higher. The lower path
is followed in the first stages of evolution requiring judgment and
control. The succeeding path of liberation is trodden by renouncing
judgment and attachment to results as will be discussed in Chapter
Seven.

  

Chapter 5

The Dance of Life, Lila 

You sit beside a stranger, a person you have not met before nor will
ever meet again. You are bored and feel isolated and have a deep
yearning to find some relationship or union with someone. You become
interested in the stranger next to you and wonder what she is thinking
or feeling and find a desire to feel some interaction with her. You
offer some simple statement and then... two hours later you part with
a sense of deep union and sharing of extreme intimate feelings
approaching ecstasy. There were no conflicts, only deep yearning and
the sense of having been overpowered.

Why can you not have this closeness with your friends and family? The
difference in the two states of interaction with the stranger and with
your friends can be described as the difference between trusting what
is happening or what is going to happen versus attempting to control
the outcome by thinking and trying. This is the difference between
freedom and bondage or "playing" and "trying". This difference will be
elaborated upon in the next chapter.

Playing is first experienced as a child. Initially, a child may watch
older children playing some imaginative interactive game. Then she is
gradually allowed to enter into the game, starting as an inert
non-reactive element, like a crew member in a space game or a student
in a school game. At this level the child is told what and when to
speak and is fully controlled by the older children in the game. The
child gradually senses the intensity the older children bring to the
game and how they fully interact with each other, somehow not worrying
or hesitating about what they do or say. The child senses magic in the
game that overtakes and controls the players. In the game the children
are able to let the game and their different roles dictate their
actions, what they think, say, and do. Newcomers are gradually led
into the method of game playing until finally the game controls their
actions as well. When the game and not the older children control,
then the child becomes a full-fledged player.

Educators and other people working with children are aware of the
power of games. If a teaching or lesson can be inserted into a game,
then it is more rapidly absorbed by the children than if they "try" to
learn the content.

What is of importance in these games is the ability of the children to
accept various roles and to make them real in their own minds and
perhaps even more importantly, to make them real in the minds of the
other players. Once they assume and enliven their respective roles,
they no longer have to think or plan "how" to play their roles in the
game. They must, of course, continue to put their effort into
maintaining the roles. The roles fit the game and the game seems to
fit all of the roles. The game moves along with the children becoming
more and more enmeshed within and taken over so that observing adults
can become concerned about their children's fantasies becoming real,
which of course they are. To play these imaginary games requires that
the children have an initial dedication to the game or a deep yearning
to become someone different, a willingness to renounce who they were
before the game, and a trust in the game to guide them. The children
must likewise be willing to let the game overpower them and control
their thoughts, actions, and statements. This process is called
samarpana.

Game playing is nearly opposite to the conditioned interaction with
others that children eventually learn. In game playing, the role is of
greatest concern. Effort must be placed into portraying the role just
right. Even slight deviations of the role can ruin the game as for
instance, smiling if you are playing a suffering dying martyr. The
other point of interest is that in game playing there cannot be any
effort put into what you are going to say or do. Instead, you must be
completely open to the game and let the game lead you. In the adult
civilized world the concerns are reversed. You must worry about what
you are going to say and do. At this time, you do not put effort into
the role since that is assumed to be fixed and is the real "me".

Children are being civilized or conditioned to have fixed and
controlled responses to the outside world, or to say and do prescribed
things. Their role, ego, conditioned self, or character then becomes
the result of doing the prescribed things in a prescribed way. This is
of course the opposite to game playing.

The first game that a child learns to play is reacting to a parent. A
child, for instance, will increase the intensity of a scream if it
seems to yield more response from a parent. When children scrape their
knees they may look to a parent's response to gauge how much effort
they should put into playing the role of an injured person. The parent
becomes the leader or power behind each moment in the game. Later,
this variable reaction to the parent becomes fixed, based upon success
in the past. The response becomes a part of the conditioned self or
ego.

Children are gradually taught by the adult society to be only one
person or to have only one role (with fixed and repeatable responses
to the outer world.) This is evidenced by some of the definitions you
have about someone, such as ; they take everything seriously and
frown, or they laugh at problems, or they are honest. While a child is
being conditioned to maintain a fixed response to the world, they are
also warned about people who are "playing" a role which might be
misleading and harmful, such as a child molester who smiles and offers
candy. This conditioning carries on into adulthood with adults being
very suspicious of people "who are not themselves" including yourself.
Just what the term "being your Self" means is not questioned. The
actor Peter Sellers was quoted as saying that he had played so many
different roles that he no longer knew who he was.

The conditioned and rigid social reaction of adults requires many
years of coaching, copying, and watching. When adults become parents
they find themselves rearing their children as they were reared. One
of the humorous sides of parenting is the recognition that you are
doing to your own children what you rebelled against in your parents.
The professional games played out in the market place require
studying, practice sessions, and much coaching. College students learn
more than course work as they observe the mannerisms of their
professors and later adopt many of them as their own. A person
entering the blue-collar work place also finds coaching and training
from other workers in how to please the bosses, how to get along with
fellow workers, and how to minimize the effort or pain in the work.
The advent of unions and professional standards has complicated the
drama and roles in the work place and the games are played with
increasing sophistication.

When you consciously choose a game and play it with the understanding
that a mystical unseen power in that chosen game controls the actions
of the players, the game becomes "the dance of life". This dance of
life requires dedication, renunciation, energy, and trust. You must
fully intend to interact with the dance and do, say, or feel what ever
the dance requires. The role that you intentionally put on to play is
called your Mudra. If you do not consciously chose a role or a game to
play then you remain a conditioned robot with conditioned responses
that are associated with "you".

The dance of life that includes others must therefore start with a
clear agreement of the roles each active person involved in the game
will play. If one person is playing the role of a policeman, then
there must be the recognition of the power that goes with that role.
The policeman role must have the power to control and to overpower you
if necessary. A teacher role must be a perfect source of wisdom
without flaw that can overpower you with new insights. A lover must
have complete control over your feelings and able to lead you into
ever deeper intimacies. A physician must have mystical powers of
healing which can overpower your illnesses or complaints. One of the
very interesting aspects of the game of life is that when you empower
the other players, they play their roles with greater intensities. As
an example, if you do not empower your policemen, and instead consider
them as part of your problems then they become ineffective in
controlling. Similarly, when you limit the power of your lover, love
and intimacy disappear only to be replaced with conditioned responses.

Your own role requires the acceptance of purpose and power and the
renunciation of any old role that may have been played, including
"being your Self". You must have a clear concept of the goal
associated with the role and its relationship to the chosen game, and
then you must take on the attributes or characteristics that make that
role and game become more and more intense.

If you are playing "being your Self" for instance, then the goal is
carried in your conditioning and may appear as "being good". The
characteristics of the Self then take on the nature of being affable,
agreeable, trustworthy, and traits learned from our childhood as being
socially acceptable. If however, you take on the role of being a
fireman, for instance, then many of the old learned traits must be
shed. Concern for Self must be replaced with concern for others. Fear
of fire, height, or danger must be overcome with absolute trust in
equipment, procedures, leadership, and fellow firemen.

Primitives living close to nature do not outgrow this trusting game
and instead perceive the world as a unity and their immediate God as a
Spirit contained or moving in everything (each element having its own
nature, game or god.) Nothing in nature acts upon its own, but rather
as an interaction with everything else. If one attempts to live in
nature without playing this game, one remains always an outsider and
at harm. One may also argue a similar game in a city with its
inhabitants becoming "street-wise" or acquiring other civilized games
such as sales or construction.

One major source of misery to adults is the loss of the concept of
playing a game. Instead, you start to identify with your role and see
yourself as being that role, not a player acting that role. It is this
identification with the role that immediately limits your ability to
change or to evolve beyond the role. In contrast, you can accept the
concept that what you think you are is only a role that you have been
playing most of your life. This role was not of your choosing, but
rather was forced upon you during the process of becoming civilized.
Public performers and artists report how some of them become
identified with their role on stage and have difficulty in shedding it
off-stage. "Groupies" or their followers increase the difficulty since
they force the performer to continue their stage role off-stage. This
is not unlike what happens when you, as an adult, are in the company
of your parents and are forced into old roles.

The comparison between conditioned roles and the desired new roles is
like the difference between reliance on past conditioning and shaping
a new role that lies in the future. That desired role is ahead of the
present moment in time, always in the future. As an example, when you
are your old self, you "think" about what you should do, whereas in a
desired role, you find yourself doing without thought. "Thinking" is
the link with the past conditioning whereas "finding yourself," is
reacting to that which is ahead in the un-folding or on-coming moment.

One interesting aspect of the game of life is that it cannot have a
beginning or an ending. We must step fully into a role immediately
upon entering it. You cannot gradually become a boss with an employee
or gradually become a parent with a child. It is similar to dreaming.
You enter a dream without any preamble and never have to ask, "What's
going on?" or "Where am I?". You are instantly in a role that has a
history as well as a present and future all controlled by the game.

The dance or game of life has no ending. If you encounter an old
school friend after many years of absence, there is an immediate
re-connection to the old game that you played together. Class reunions
are interesting in that even after decades, the old school roles and
interactions predominate despite what each individual may have done in
the intervening years. There is a definite sense of continuing worlds
with no time in between the scenes. You do not experience a time lapse
between meetings with people who have been joined in play. By
extrapolation of this experience you see the impermanence of death or
the ability of some inner spiritual nature to exist beyond physical
separation.

The game of life cannot be coupled with the normal controlled world.
You cannot enter into the game while attempting to restrain or control
your actions or thoughts. It is an all or nothing type of interaction.
Children, for instance, cannot play "mud slide" if they are concerned
about keeping their clothes clean. Nor can you experience the joy of
the game with a fellow traveler in conversation if you are concerned
about saying something wrong. There must be a complete renunciation of
other roles in order to play a new role even though the new role may
have some characteristics that are similar to the old role.

In the market place, if you can renounce the desire to judge and
control, you can learn to experience the game of life with people you
would not normally choose as playmates. This stepping into the game of
life can be accomplished even though those around your do not see the
game. You may have opponents in the business world for instance, whom
you have disliked very much, but this dislike may be changed to a
respect for their abilities in playing their roles (even though they
might deny that they are "playing".) If you can see your enemies as
supporting players in the game of life, then they can be accepted as
wonderful additions to the plot who increase the intensity of the game
by their excellent portrayals of an opposing force. You learn to react
to an individual's role with intensity while seeing the interaction as
part of the whole play and loving the person playing the hateful role.
This can be compared to a children's game where one child plays the
role of some horrible fiend, hated by all but at the same time
completely enjoyed by the other players. It is again when one
identifies either the conditioned self or other individuals with the
roles that misery results.

The game of life has the characteristic of "pulling" you into it. As
you step into the game, the desire to act or react grows. The game
intensifies and the game tends to find a rising crescendo as the
players warm to it and develop skills that increase their ability to
project their roles. The villain becomes more villainous while the
heroes become more heroic. The game is fired by the desire to
experience more and more in the game. This intensification of the
action will be called the crescendo of the game or vimarsha. This
crescendo, vimarsha, is well known to playwrights and musicians and
reflects the intention of playing the game or listening to some music
whereby you wish to be stimulated and carried beyond your present
feelings.

For example, in the conversation described at the beginning of this
chapter when you are bored with your trip and looking for a lively
discussion with a fellow traveler, you allow a discussion to intensify
and become more and more personal or intimate to increase the
crescendo or interest in the conversation. If you are successful, the
time passes almost instantly and you arrive at your destination
actually refreshed and more alive then when you started the trip.
Unfortunately, as the excitement and crescendo increase, most would-be
players may back away from the game and begin to judge their actions
or feelings. They may then become horrified at their lack of
self-control, the exposure of their inner feelings, or the animation
in their expression. It is typical to start to feel that you are being
overpowered by the other person or the game or both. Such an
interruption destroys the game by removing the intimacy and the
crescendo of the game. The game is reduced to a controlled social
interaction. To continue in the game you must allow the vimarsha of
the game to become overpowering and trust in the outcome. Along with
the trust, there likewise is a requirement for a greater and greater
input of energy (in a form that will be discussed later.) As the game
intensifies, you find that you are exerting yourself more and more
with increased awareness and openness as well as with the intensity of
your expressions. Without this increased investment, the game dies.
Another requirement is that you must not attempt to bring another
world or game within the present game. For instance, one of the
reasons that you can find a game with a stranger on a bus is that you
can renounce your old games that include self-importance, prestige,
social powers, etc. If you attempt to bring one of your old roles into
this new game, the game will probably die unless the other person can
build upon your old game.

In general, our conditioning labels activities with a vimarsha as
"fun" or as "games" while the activities without a crescendo are the
drudgeries of life. The method for increasing the joy in living is
therefore to bring vimarsha into your ordinary activities or to make a
game of each element of life.

  

Chapter 6

Heaven 

The term "Heaven" was introduced in Chapter Three as the source of a
creation and this chapter will add to that definition several more
considerations including the idea that it is also the state of
existence. Heaven, or the state of Heaven, has been commonly defined
as a perfected world, but this is not a sufficient definition since it
also becomes the source of creation of yet another higher world and
hence cannot be perfect. Existence in a Heaven requires vimarsha or
the seeking of more and more in your immediate experiencing of life.
Heaven has some characteristics opposite to many of the common
descriptions of Hell, such as eternal torment, un-ending suffering,
and eternal bondage, but the common definitions of Heaven as a future
place of eternal rest or peace lack vimarsha and become something like
eternal sitting, which is not very appealing even if the sitting is
done in a beautiful hall.

Heaven, as used in the ancient world, was not a place, a state of
mind, or even something that could be directly described since it
cannot ever be static. Jesus, in the Bible, gives excellent
allegorical definitions of Heaven such that it is like ten virgins, a
mustard seed, an inheritance that must be used, a pearl of great
price, etc. When the ancient teachings are understood, then they
provide the key to understanding these models as will be demonstrated.
The following text will attempt to describe a few of the attributes of
Heaven. As you read, do not attempt to form a complete or
understandable picture of Heaven for it can only be understood during
its creation.

To summarize Chapter Three, Heaven must come forth from a world that
was created using the power of the Sun and Moon of a higher Heaven.
The created world can however, in turn, create another Heaven since
that world must also contain the elements of creation, the Sun and
Moon. This concept is important in understanding the following text
and for changing your own world into a Heaven.

You have probably experienced Heaven to some degree and you might have
even stated that you were in Heaven. As for instance, when you have
been caught up in the dance of life and lost your ego, judgements, and
self-importance, you found a complete oneness with your inner mentally
created view of what the outer world should be and what you perceived
it to be. Your outer world became a perfect reflection of your own
mind or creative center; or the inner Heaven became the source of the
created perfect outer world. You may have done superhuman things or at
least heard of others who have done so in this Heaven.

The above biblical phrase (in the Book) "Heaven is within you" is used
for an introduction to this chapter because when it is interpreted
correctly it shows the universality of the early concepts of reality.
The original Greek word used for "within" (en) is not the specific
Greek word meaning "inside" (or in the future,) but rather has the
sense of an intermediate position as between a source or creation and
its full or final manifestation. This definition is strange to a
modern Westerner and meaningless without more of the ancient concepts
of reality. With this interpretation, however, the above statement
about Heaven is in agreement with other ancient writings and can be
understood to mean that you can be an integral part of Heaven in the
present moment. This then leads directly to the opening question of
the Paratrimshika´ which asks "How can you find this Heaven?"

Consider first a sequence of Heavens. The ultimate Creator of all is
called the "One" in The Emerald Table and this "One" must reside in a
creative Heaven that is called the Telestial Heaven. Out of the
Telestial Heaven came the Sun and the Moon which reside in the
Celestial Heaven and together are a manifesting of the "One". The
"One" in the Celestial Heaven, or the Sun and Moon in turn created the
Earth which in its perfected form is called the Terrestrial Heaven or
Heaven on Earth. This perfected Earth must involve you as a co-creator
as will be discussed and requires a reflection of your inner
perfection. This inner reflection is formed in part by your past
experiences as well as your genetic inheritances or samskaras. When
your dedication and yearning can be energized with the proper energy
and samskaras, then Earth can become the kingdom of Heaven, Anuttara
or state of perfection, moksha or freedom, enlightenment, etc.

Heaven is never the ultimate fulfillment, rather it is something
always ahead of you. What is ahead of you is created with the mind or
the power of the Masculine or Sun as will be discussed in Part B. To
create Heaven, the conditioned "you" must become a co-creator with the
inner Sun and Moon. You are however, a creation or reflection of the
Celestial Sun and Moon Dyad and cannot be separated from it as
discussed in Chapter Three, so therefore you also contain the Sun and
Moon within yourself and hence are not only a co-creator, but also the
creator. This bit of logic sounds strange, but is paramount to finding
your personal Heaven. This identity with the higher realms will be
dealt with Part B of the book, but for the moment a reflection of the
basic teachings of some of the religions can make this point somewhat
clearer. You have as basic building blocks within yourself, Yin and
Yang, Shiva and Shakti, subtle and gross, Spirit and flesh, or Sun and
Moon. Religions express these inner building blocks identically with
those of the Celestial Heaven. If there is God in Heaven, the same God
is within you. What is above, must also be below. What is without,
must also be within.

This realization of the creation of Heavens immediately changes the
approach to changing your life and world since the change must come
from a Heaven above or beyond the Heaven you are attempting to create
or enjoy. In other words, if you are not enjoying your world and want
to change it, you must first find the Heaven or power that created it.
This Heaven or power is beyond your present identification with the
conditioned self who is in the midst of the world judging, desiring,
and fearing. Most old religious writings attempt to teach this view by
arguing that the physical and manifest world was first a mental
creation in the mind of the "One" or Creator. The Bible, for example,
has two creations in the book of Genesis; the spiritual creation
(mantra) which existed before anything was made manifest and then the
physical creation (mudra) which became the manifest.

If you are not in the kingdom of Heaven, where are you then? In
describing the normal world, you do not use the word "perfect" to
describe it. There is a large difference between your expectations and
desires for the outer world and what you observe. This can be
expressed as a large difference between your inner mantra and your
projected mudra. This difference can be explained with the model of a
child's world. If a child is lost in play, then there is complete
agreement between the inner world of the child and the outer world.
The game has become the perfect reflection of the inner mind or
mantra. When the child however, enters into the world controlled by
adults, there is suffering because of the vast gulf which separates
the outer world from that created within. Further, social institutions
desire to keep the gulf in place to maintain conformance.

The conditioned world of the adults and society can be called the
"World of Law" or that of Mammon, while the higher and opposing world
can be called the "kingdom of Heaven". The two realities or worlds can
be described with four basic elements such as:

Heaven: 
1) you must maintain the dedicated game and role you have chosen, 
2) you cannot worry or attempt to control any thoughts, actions, or
feelings, and
3) there must be a continual crescendo of feelings or vimarsha in your
world as you surrender to the role, and
4) there must be an intense faith in the game and its outcome. 

World of Law: 
1) the role is fixed as being "yourself," 
2) you must be proper and do that which is expected by controlling
what you say and do,
3) you do not allow yourself to become overpowered or to increase the
intensity of life or vimarsha, and
4) you maintain a tight control on your thoughts and actions through
continual judgements.

It is true that you are either in Heaven or in the World of Law. You
cannot be partially in the kingdom of Heaven. There are, however, some
people who may be said to be preparing to enter Heaven or are finding
moments during which they are caught up in it. It is the study of
these people that became the basis for Yoga and more recently became
the basis of study for the American psychologist, Abraham Maslow.
Maslow studied highly evolved or exceptionally successful people and
is credited with being the founder of the Humanistic psychology
movement. In studying the exceptional people of society (as did the
ancient sages), rather than those of lesser social attainment, Maslow
found that the exceptional or "self-actualized" people had
characteristics that can be related to the special traits associated
with religious or spiritual mastery. Maslow suggested six steps
required to reach this higher state of attainment. These compare quite
closely with the Eastern concepts of the steps necessary for evolution
as discussed in the next chapter. Many of the modern Humanistic
movement members have however, concentrated on the lower steps in
Maslow's "hierarchy of needs" which are the beginning social
conditionings of people, rather than on the higher steps of evolution.
This exclusion is obvious since Maslow pointed out that less than 1%
of a populace reaches the higher realm. This is an interesting number
when compared to the statement in The Gospel of Thomas that only one
in a thousand reach the state of Heaven. Does this mean that only one
in ten of Maslow's self-actualized people reach the kingdom of Heaven
or has the world evolved since Thomas' day?

One characteristic that impressed Maslow was that the
"self-actualized" have a humility and openness rather than having a
rigid self-centered view of their world. Along with this humility is a
deeper insight into the nature of the Self and outer world with an
ability to be more objective and observant of life. They are able to
"see" and "hear" truth whereas the majority of people "hear" and "see"
only that which they desire or are conditioned to hear and see. The
self-actualized have broad interests and are capable of non-judgmental
and correct interactions with their world. One strong characteristic
that all of the self-actualizing individuals have is an intense
dedication or drive toward some major goal in life. Because their goal
becomes central to their life, everything becomes pleasurable whether
others perceive it as work or play. They are highly creative with
their creativity "flowing through" similar to that found in children.
They are uninhibited and can play almost any role demanded of them.
Lastly, they have an abundance of courage and faith in their own
future and capabilities. These characteristics can be perceived to be
fundamental for being in the kingdom of Heaven as described in the
"Sermon on the Mount" by Jesus.

Another often quoted characteristic of Heaven is having a particular
state of love. This state of love is not "caring for," "controlling,"
"possessing," or in "pleasing" another person. Instead, the higher
state of love can be expressed with the Sanskrit word samaj. There is
no corresponding English word for samaj, though you have probably
experienced it at some time in your life. Samaj is described as having
three powerful forces associated with it:

a yearning to merge with another, 
the ability to completely surrender to another, and 
the opposing conflicts to the above two. 
The first term of yearning is not a passive term but requires a
continuous driving force for more union or for coming ever closer; it
is not becoming accepting, comfortable, or accustomed to each other or
fully understanding each other. In samaj as in Heaven there must
forever be the reaching and yearning for more and more. Surprisingly,
that state can be found and is a characteristic of Heaven. The first
term is not the same as wanting to possess or please each other.

The second term of surrendering is foreign to most modern people as
they attempt to control their own lives and prevent others from
influencing them. This term means surrendering to the extent that your
mind and body become overwhelmed or controlled by the other. You are
thoroughly conditioned not to allow yourself to be influenced by
anyone else, particularly your enemies or those you don't like. Samaj
however, requires you to reach into and join another person's beliefs,
feelings, and thoughts as if they were your own. As an example, a wise
person can often be characterized by his willingness to listen to any
issue with an open mind whereas you may have trouble listening to any
statement in support of your opposite political party or religion. One
further example of surrender is given by young children who are able
to open to and learn opposing points of view and agree with both.

Before moving on to the third term, the interaction of the first two
terms needs to be clarified. An excellent example of samaj is
sometimes perceived in "first love" as two teenagers fall in love.
They are said to exist in their own world and to hold each other in
the palms of their hands. They desire nothing more than to merge with
the other in complete union in body, mind, and soul and at the same
time to allow the other to overpower them as they surrender to what
ever the demand of the other might be. Whatever one says to the other
is wonderful, true, and has a tremendous interest and power over the
other. Parents can be very jealous of the power another person has
over their child and to most people in the modern world, this love is
foolish, irresponsible, and degrading.

At this stage of love the third term of conflict can start to be
understood. It is perhaps the judgment of the lovers by others that
begins the process of conflict between the two. The people surrounding
this couple warn them about being overcome, how they cannot trust each
other, why the love cannot last, and about the weaknesses of one or
both of the lovers. Because of these comments and expressed doubts,
the couple will typically try harder to prove their love and the
lovers starts to constrain or increase their actions, thoughts, or
statements, so as not to endanger the relationship. This trying,
constraining, and proving changes the yearning and surrendering into
pleasing the other and others and controlling the Self to prevent any
reduction in the relationship. However, they are now relying upon
their learned and programmed concepts of what "should be" rather than
"what is". Rather than "losing" themselves in their love, they now
attempt to control their actions such that their love is not
threatened. They can neither have an open, deep and ever increasing
yearning nor can they surrender and become completely overcome by the
other because of the fear of losing what they once started to
experience. All of the attempts to control become conflicts that
prevent love. The above opening quotes from the book of Luke in the
Bible can be seen to directly relate. When the lovers trusted the
"kingdom of Love" that lay within themselves they found more and more
riches, but when they lost their faith and attempted to preserve and
keep what they had, they lost it. A true union between two lovers can
only take place with deep yearning and sacrifice of the self to the
other. The higher plane relationships must be first experienced and
then the relationship itself must be trusted which requires an
unsubstantiated and unrelenting faith. Without this faith in their own
potential future, the lovers are doomed to reducing their love. Their
love can quickly drop to the possessive, jealous, and controlling
relationship so fami lia r to almost everyone as they work at and
cling desperately to what they were taught that they should have.
Another important point about conflict is the element of giving you
free Will. Without conflict, it would be impossible to escape samaj.
This can be related to seeking Heaven, without opposition or
conflicts, you would have no free agency or choice and hence, you
would be powerless and remain only a kept "pet".

Love, like the dance of life and ecstasy (that will be discussed in
Chapter Twenty), must continually be increasing and have vimarsha. The
excitement, enjoyment, or ecstasy of a relationship with someone else
is dependent upon the rate of exploring or sharing new experiences
with the other. The social relationships exist because of fixed and
generally well defined boundaries around each person. Social decency
for instance, requires that you not stare or even react to a facial
blemish on a casual acquaintance. Personal questions or even
observations are taboo and interactions must be kept at an impersonal
level. This boundary however, gradually lessens or opens with
increased contact as you both gradually expose yourself more to the
other. It is this increase in exposure that becomes pleasant or
intriguing. In most social relationships, however, a stable boundary
or separation develops which is "comfortable" to everyone. There is an
unwritten list of taboo subjects that are avoided and limitations on
behavior are recognized. For instance, any deviation in your opening
remarks or your normal facial expressions on greeting these people
causes an immediate negative or questioning response. In an exciting
relationship, on the other hand, participants find that with each
encounter, the boundaries open more and more as they both learn more
of the other and share more experiences. This opening can involve much
pain as well as relief as deeper feelings and thoughts are shared.
This opening of boundaries is enhanced with the common pursuit of some
goal and in sharing the problems and successes of the past toward that
goal. If the relationship does not include some mutual evolution, love
or samaj becomes less as the shared boundaries become fixed, and the
conflicts become hardened.

The parables of Jesus about the kingdom of Heaven are unique in
religious writings. However, they are seldom elaborated upon because
of the misleading way they are generally interpreted. The actual power
in the parables about the kingdom of Heaven is that they express a
universal experience that rises above the normal World of Law and may
be unassociated with any religious belief or practice. As an example
and as an introduction to Tantrik philosophy, consider the Sermon on
the Mount as described in the book of Matthew in the Bible (see Table
5, Part E). This sermon is an ancient "technical" commentary in that
the meaning of terms is developed step-by-step (krama) and each verse
must be taken in sequence. The necessary state of mind is given in the
opening "Beatitudes" by the usage of Greek terms which specify
humbleness and openness and the ability to allow the outer world to
overpower you similar to Maslow's observations. The teaching of the
Sermon follows with a definition of the power within yourself as "the
Father in Heaven" which must be compared to the in-dwelling masculine
force (or Sun) popularly called Shiva in the earlier Tantrik writings
(Shiva is also considered to reside in the Celestial Heaven as well as
within your body.) It is this acceptance of an inner Masculine force
that makes the rest of the Sermon understandable. Much of the
following text points to the intense effort that it takes to stay in
this Kingdom which can be compared to the difficulty children have in
playing an imaginary game. The most challenging aspect of remaining in
this state is that you must follow stricter laws than any religion can
require.

The Sermon can be compared with the characteristics of the
self-actualizers studied by Maslow such as humility, faith, openness,
and trust. Jesus elaborated upon trusting the game of life with his
statements of taking no thought for tomorrow, or for what you will
say, do, or even wear which are, of course, contrary to religious
requirements of constantly trying to be good.

In addition to the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus provided many different
allegorical models to define the elusive concept of Heaven. The
opening quotation from Luke above gives Jesus' concluding remarks on
the parable of the talents. This parable depicts various people being
given money (talents) and how the one who invested, used, and
increased the money is praised while the others who carefully hid and
secured their money had to give up what remained. The teaching of the
parable of the talents is also reflected in the above story of the
teenage lovers who in attempting to preserve their love, lost it.
Another parable of Jesus uses the model of the seed that contains all
of the future manifestation of a life (as does Tantra in the game of
life or lila). This can be seen in reviewing portions of your life
when you dedicated your self to some attainment and then found the
unfolding of your world to the perfection of your dedication. It is as
if there was a master plan or seed contained within your first
dedication. A third parable uses the idea of "leavening" as do many
major religions. Leavening was associated with a spirit that changed
the nature of ground grain or flour, and was symbolic of the
transformation of an individual infused with a higher spirit of life.
The last two models can therefore be used to imply that the kingdom of
Heaven is contained within yourself (like a seed) or that you must be
infused with a Spirit which will permeate and flow throughout your
entire being (like leavening) to thoroughly change your life. Jesus
also likened leavening to activating the whole loaf or the entire game
(in your parlance) which fits the requirement that a game must
continually grow or contain vimarsha. Further, if you do not fully
contribute to a game, to continue the analogy, you cannot remain a
player as Jesus exemplified with the story of the ten virgins and
their lamps.

The state of being in Heaven is being compared directly to the trust
and dedication required to play a child's imaginary game as described
in the last chapter. With trust the child dives into a role
completely, becoming a character, gaining fully the powers associated
with that character. Children will report how the power of a role can
overpower them and lead them into a previously unknown experience. If
they do not respond to this power, they remain outside the game,
locked in the effort of controlling or judging themselves such as a
child who is afraid to get his clothes dirty.

Another approach to the attainment of Heaven can be described using
the Indian model of the four objects or stages of life. The four
objects or stages of life with their four major goals are: dharma, or
the obedience to the world of law; kama, or the seeking of joy; artha,
or the reaching for wealth and power; and moksha, perfection or
liberation. Each of these stages has an associated sexual nature that
will be discussed in detail later. Each stage or object also has a
Power or creative source attributed to it as well. A child begins
under the power of the world of law or the manifested and terrestrial
Heaven. Although the next major objective involves the desire for joy
with associated power of the Moon, the child is taught to distrust joy
and consequently, the power of the Moon. Later, when success is the
major goal, involving the power of the Sun, the child is taught to
measure success only in terms of dollars, which likewise diminishes
the power of the Sun. Western institutions do not in general support
the ancient four stages of life since they do not advocate the latter
three objects of life and instead argue for devotion to duty and
finding security and safety. The average life is a Triune of law, joy,
and success whereas the higher life becomes a Triune of joy, success,
and perfection. The four stages and the associated sexual force with
its source is listed below.

Stage:  
Duty  Joy  Success  Perfection  
(Dharma)  ( Kama  (Artha)  (Moksha)  
Sex:  
Neuter  Feminine  Masculine  Androgynous  
Power:  
Terrestrial Heaven  "Moon"  "Sun"  Kingdom of Heaven  


Trusting in the higher power of a game or of Heaven conflicts with our
modern Western culture in two major ways which prevent most people
from "playing" or stepping into the kingdom of Heaven. The first
problem is that the religious organizations require that game playing
be postponed to a life after death and also that you must put your
efforts and judgements into being good. This process leads, of course,
into further conditioned control. The second problem is the belief in
the powerlessness or non-existence of a higher power ruling a game.
You may have turned against the concept of a benevolent God sitting on
a throne watching your every action. But in doing so, you have thrown
out any acceptance of a higher power or the Divine over your life.
This denial forces you to the belief that you must control and judge
your own life according to your conditioned responses.

One further comment about the "power" of the Divine: The Divine must
have infinite and unlimited power if you are to fully play the game.
The power of the game you are currently playing must become greater
than any conditioned power or concepts. For instance, many people say
that they believe in God, but then limit the powers of that God by not
accepting anything in their life that does not meet their requirements
of what God can and cannot do! In a game, you expect to do the
unexpected and the miraculous, but that can only come with unlimited
faith in the game and yourself. This can be compared with a child who
is told to, "Go and play, but don't get dirty or forget to be good". A
strong warning is required here: the kingdom in Heaven is in no way
similar to "doing what you want to do". Rather, it involves losing
your desires as you allow a dedication to become manifest through the
process of mantra. All of the world's major religions, as well as the
great contributors to society, state that the kingdom of Heaven (or
its equivalent) is attained only with a strong drive toward some
evolutionary goal.

One important aspect of Heaven is the realization of supernormal
powers often associated with it. Maslow was very impressed with the
abilities of the exceptional people in his study and how they
exhibited insights and actions that were certainly beyond the normal.
As noted earlier, children often demonstrate actions, insights, and
awareness beyond their usual ability when completely absorbed in a
game as do partners in early love. The old system of Tantra stated
that super powers come when there is a need for them; so a first
requirement is that you find yourself in a place where super powers
are required of you. If you find yourself playing (with all of your
effort) the role of an advisor, you will find that your advice is
beyond what you could have given outside of the game. If you find that
you are suddenly required to perform some feet of strength or courage,
you may later be amazed at the power that comes forth. For instance,
consider a commonly reported type of incident in which a small women
lifts a car to release a child pinned under it. Initially with the
shock of seeing the child trapped, the woman experiences a distortion
of time, awareness, and capability of response. With trauma induced
clarity, she sees the situation in complete detail. Then within the
same time frame, she envisions herself freeing the child. The woman
then simultaneously steps into that perceived role lifting the car.
This is an example of the instantaneous transport into the kingdom of
Heaven which should be convincing to everyone of the supernormal
powers that can be found.

Therefore under sufficient duress and with sufficient faith, a new
Self is created instantly which is able to deal with the pressures and
demands of the moment, whether it be increased patience, strength,
endurance, knowledge, or love. An important aspect of this new state
is that the conditioned judgmental aspect of the self is by-passed and
you view the world dispassionately without judgment, fear, or need to
control. Normally however, this change is not permanent and can only
exist as long as the extreme demand exists. Once the demand ceases,
you return back to your conditioned lower world and self. The
practices of Tantra as will be described allow this normally hidden
kingdom of Heaven be attained, sustained, and utilized under
intentional control for increased evolution, joy, and ecstasy.

  

Chapter 7

The Seven Major Stages of Evolution 

Most of the world's religions originally taught that you have the
chance of evolving upward step-by-step, from one level to another,
from life to life, or from one world to another. As you look at
history an ever increasing rate of evolution is obvious from
generation to generation. Though most modern institutions teach that
either chance or a Deity directed this evolution, the early writings
state that the world evolves by the efforts of its inhabitants or that
they at least share in it with an inner higher power. One important
aspect of this book is demonstrating that individuals can and do
evolve and are capable of creating new worlds and affecting the worlds
to come.

Many of the world's great people report having changed their lives or
to have stepped into new roles and worlds within their own lifetime.
You also may have experienced stepping into strangely new worlds after
puberty, marriage, trauma, or change in life style. The ancients made
a study of what happens as you enter into a new world and found that
there are seven basic steps that have to be negotiated in mastering
that world. The creation of worlds from a perfected Heaven and then
the perfection of the new world into a new Heaven has been discussed
in previous chapters. This chapter will discuss a particular aspect of
this process, namely, the steps taken within each world leading toward
its perfection or your own (there is no difference between the two).

Evolution is the mastering of a world or the accumulation of skills,
powers, wisdom, and experiences that can then open you to a higher
world for a repeat of the process. If this evolution is studied, a
number of discrete steps can be described that are universal in any
world. For instance, the word "wonderment" was used by a senior
citizen stepping into a world called second childhood. This is the
same sensation that is experienced in any major change in life such as
marriage, deaths, professional appointments, moving, or any change
that places you in a new position in terms of the people and/or places
or the games around you. As you attempt to adapt to the new world,
there is the development of frustration and anger at your own
ineptness that you typically will attempt to blame on someone or
something else. As an example, it is common for many people attempting
to step into a religious life to create or use a Church concept of
evil forces to blame for their inability to fully adapt to love,
faith, or service.

Before proceeding on with the seven steps of evolution, the concept of
good and evil needs further elaboration. The concept of good and evil
forces or forces of light and darkness are institutional inventions.
The older writings, on the other hand, speak of Light and Dark forces
often as the Sun and Moon with both very much required for reality and
evolution. This chapter will add another aspect to the Sun and Moon,
namely the expansive nature of the Sun and the contractive nature of
the Moon. The expansive force is called evolution or pravritti and the
contractive force is called involution or nivritti. Evolution and
reality results from the expansion of your awareness outward and then
the concentration (contraction) upon a very limited aspect of the
total world such as a flying bird. As the world or your concentration
is narrowed, the bird becomes real. Otherwise, the bird blends into
the totality that is unreal or without specific form and definition.
Similarly, you have a basic nature that you may call "goodness" which
is essentially expansive as you open to the outer world. You also have
a nature that is labeled bad as you turn inward with "emotions".
However, as will be discussed, the "emotions" serve to fuel or
stimulate another reversal outward for more evolution. The following
Table is presented as an overview of the steps used in evolving toward
the kingdom of Heaven. Different cultures have used variations in the
following listing, but the variations are unimportant if the basic
concept is gained. The Table breaks the steps into three major
divisions: the first is the growth and evolution within a social group
or institution (the right hand path), the second is the evolution as
you choose your own path to be followed (the left hand path), and the
third is the opening into the kingdom of Heaven which will be
discussed in detail later.

The numbered steps begin with a broad term of definition, followed by
an evolutionary force, the corresponding contractive force, and
finally the Sanskrit term for that step or level. The evolutionary
force describes the inner Self expanding outward, and the contractive
force, which is generally called a sin, is in actuality a necessary
force in evolving. The last three levels describe breaking free of the
world of law and evolving toward perfection or the kingdom of Heaven
and constitute "the left hand path" of Yoga.

World of Law: the Right Hand Path 
1. Learning basic social laws, Stillness, Anger, Vedachara 
2. Self-Control, Trust, Envy, Vaishnavachara 
3. Self-Motivation, Chaos, Lust, Shaivachara 
4. Developing; Discipline, Pride; Dakshinachara 

The Higher Realm: the Left Hand Path 
5. Individualism, Vitality, Sloth, Vamachara 
6. Perfected, Serving, Avarice, Siddhantachara 
7. Freedom, Evolving, Gluttony, Kaulachara 

Kingdom of Heaven: Anuttara 

The above seven steps are again undertaken in a new world as you
evolve through a sequence of worlds and Heavens.

The first level begins with your awareness of external forces. This is
the beginning of evolution as the distinction between the inner and
outer worlds is manifested. The inner stillness becomes the center for
reaching toward the external. As you reach, you experience frustration
and then anger as you discover the inability to bring the experiences
and objects of the outer world into your center. Anger brings your
awareness to a specific object and intensifies its relationship to
you. This intensification makes it "real".

Learning control of the body, senses, and mind begins with success in
interacting with the outer world as you desire to break through the
separation of the inner "me" and the outer "it" interface. When you
are a child, this interacting is generally assisted by a parent or
sibling and they play with you encouraging you to reach, feel, and
move. The joy of the interaction and experiences and the awareness
that it can be repeated increase your trust in your own senses and
body as well as the outer world. It is at this second stage that you,
as a child, become trainable and can be conditioned to follow laws.
Self-control starts with the simple attempt to balance the expansive
and contractive elements of reaching and experiencing. As your
awareness of consequences is still very limited and the forces
experienced in the outer world are constantly increasing, you find it
expeditious to be guided by someone more experienced in worldly
matters and trust in others begins. With trust, a model of behavior
can be accepted and you can then attempt to comply with the new
requirements of experiencing. Anger and frustration have been replaced
with trust. With trust of the outer world you also find envy. Others
are perceived as doing incomprehensible things or enjoying things that
cannot be directly understood, all of that appears to be wonderful and
yet impossible to attain. You want it too.

The third stage of Self-motivation results from the increasing force
of envy and the desire to know and become more and more. You find that
you have a power to reach out and that there is a corresponding
reaction from the outer world that can be pleasant or unpleasant
depending upon your judgements of the outer world. Pleasure is
expansive in that your input and interest keeps increasing whereas
work is contractile as your efforts and awareness diminishes. You find
pleasure when you are "good" and are rewarded and you seek to obtain
more pleasure. However, in seeking more pleasure or in being good, you
encounter the chaos and uncertainty of the outer world and must
constantly learn to judge with the Self as the center. That which
results in unpleasant reactions must be renounced while that which
results in pleasure is pursued.

In attempting to judge and equalize your world, you have the
increasing awareness of unpredictability, lack of control, and of the
unexpected that places you in a new state of chaos. You can no longer
simply "be good" in an ever changing world, but rather you are now
required to exert yourself further by "doing good" or at least
attempting the appearance of doing good before the outer world.

It is during the reaching for rewards and pleasure that lust develops.
Those things that appear to have the highest pleasure become those
things most lusted for. As lusts become unfulfilled, a new reaction
occurs, a withdrawal from the outer world. The frustration that
results when pleasure cannot be obtained now becomes unpleasant in
itself.

This third level is reached by the majority of people in any society
and is characterized by the ability to manage one's ambitions and
desires to a level of controlled limitation. This involves reaching
out to the extent that lusts and desires appear to be somewhat
satisfied, but also contracting and withdrawing from interaction or
involvement that requires too much effort or that may be judged
negatively. It is the play of these two expansive and contractive
forces that stabilize the members of a society much the same way that
automatic controls work. For instance, a thermostat wants heat until a
preset temperature is reached where it must turn heat off. Most people
want success with a limited amount of effort, with the avoidance of
notoriety or loss of privacy.

The fourth level requires increased effort and dedication. It is
characterized by increased self-discipline with a goal of
self-perfection or of doing good. A few people in a society have an
inner drive to succeed which calls forth an expenditure of greater
than average energy. They have a definite goal or dedication in their
lives which they strive to attain. It may start with the desire to
imitate some hero or heroine, a parent, or some fictional character,
and the desire to take on the personal nature of that model "god" as
much as possible. This effort immediately requires strong personal
discipline as they learn, acquire skills, and develop a demeanor that
radiates the personality of that personal god.

The expansive process of perfection is limited or modified by
judgments leading either to delight in your progress or criticism of
yourself at failure to reach expected goals. The delight can
strengthen to the extent that it is judged by others to be pride or
similarly the criticism can lead to self-denigration. Either
contractile force can become strong enough to stop further evolution
and many fail due to the inability to renounce either their pride or
their self-denigration.

In order to renounce pride or self-denigration, another assessment of
the self must take place. This perspective must become different from
the limited social view of the self. Almost everyone is conditioned to
view themselves within limitations of both potential success and
failure. You are conditioned to stay within societal limits, neither
too great nor too low in the eyes of the immediate milieu. It is at
this level that you need to look beyond the expectations of
conformance within the culture and define a higher goal or model for
yourself. This model is the start of true individuality.

The fifth level begins the evolutionary steps toward the manifesting
of your own Heaven called the stage of individualism. In attempting to
break free from the confining and limiting bondage of the expectations
and controls of society, another source of energy must be found that
can be activated from within rather than from external sources. In
order to stand alone and rise above the society, an independent,
supportive, creative, and radiant force must be developed or found.
This force results from the primal sexual energy that we will call
shakti to be described later, and has as one of its attributes the
shifting of the perceived outer world as it is called into usage. As
we find the shakti to break free of conditioned judgments and their
limitations, we find opportunities, challenges, and a beauty in the
world, instead of drudgery and problems. This is the beginning of the
higher world spoken of in religions.

There is a tendency initially to believe that you can throw out
society and institutions and forget your past, but this misconception
is quickly dispelled as you also become aware of the richness that
your life has given you. You start to experience that the
characteristics that you had labeled objectionable about yourself are
in fact positive characteristics that have added to your richness.
Instead of breaking free from your old teachings and concepts, you
find that you build or stand upon them. Instead of driving down the
highway on any side that you choose, you find yourself an even better
driver as you increase the safety of yourself and others.

You are also able to directly recognize greatness in others and to see
their true contributions to society. You are also starting to become
one of the self-actualizers described by Maslow.

As you rise, you also become aware of the depths. With the
ever-increasing effort and flow of shakti, you are at any moment, able
to check your rise to success and reverse your direction toward
inaction and oblivion. It is at this level that you are finally able
to die spiritually. As long as you were a part of the lower world you
could not separate yourself from yourself or separate the inner Sun
and Moon as will be explained. Since at the lower levels you cannot
separate yourself from your life, this gives rise to the Eastern
concept of samsara or being bound to the wheel of continual birth and
death. However, at the higher level where shakti is utilized, you can
actually develop sufficient energy to remove yourself from the system
of samsara by intentionally seeking ultimate death or oblivion.

The sixth level of evolution is called the stage of power or mastery.
In facing oblivion, you can turn and see creation. In rising above the
lower world you can sense something which can survive your birth and
death. Entropy can be reversed, you can leave behind something more
than memories or ashes. Your life can produce a permanent change in
the world contrary to the laws of physics. Your efforts and
dedication, rather than being acts of uncovering or discovering,
become the acts of creation. You are contributing to the creation of a
new world and Self. Finding service to others is not in meeting their
desires, but rather in planting seeds that can grow and change their
very nature as they evolve. You become a creator in the kingdom of
God. One very important aspect of "you" at this level, is that "you"
become the tool for playing the higher game. "You" find yourself doing
great works rather than "trying" to do good as a higher power takes
over and controls your life.

As you look out over the unlimited domain, you can also look at your
own shortcomings in the human form. The contractile forces make it
easier to avoid looking at creating, and enjoy instead, the possessing
of all that is already created. Avarice is then fed with denial of our
actual capabilities and possible future.

The seventh and last stage in your world is called the stage of
freedom. Avarice can inspire the desire for even better worlds than
those already existing. In denying your own abilities, you long for
even greater powers. This sets in motion the creation or ascendancy to
higher worlds and the evolution of your Self into more light and
ecstasy. You become free of all of the limitations of the past worlds
and instead become free to choose, select, create, or rule new worlds.

Before that moment of freedom, contractile forces can again make you
reach for what is immediate. With the evolution you have undertaken,
you can finally satisfy avarice to the extent that your whole world
becomes the manifesting of that avarice. Avarice disappears in its own
fulfillment. With its fulfillment, vimarsha and dedication also
disappear. In gluttony you have gained mastery over worlds in order to
create a complete world dominated by the object of gluttony. You can
condemn yourself to perfected Hells of your own creation instead of
finding freedom from the old.

The eighth stage is the first stage in another world or Heaven. As you
free yourself from an old world and create a new world, that new world
must likewise be explored and you must again evolve upward within it.
This is the samsara of the East or the cycle of birth, death, and
rebirth. This samsara can however always have the evolutionary aspect
of finding more and more challenges, or more and more ecstasy in the
direction of becoming a god or goddess.