The Ascension of Man--Lifting up the Serpent in the Wilderness--Part 5

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The Ascension of Man--Lifting up the Serpent in the Wilderness--Part 5

(Dialogue With Nicodemus, Part II)

 

(p.259) " And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from

heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the

serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that

whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. " (John

3:13-15)

 

Yoga: science of

switching off the

senses and entering

superconsciousness

 

(p.266) When one is sitting quietly and calmly, he has partially stilled the

life force flowing out into the nerves, releasing it from the muscles; for the

moment his body is relaxed. But his peace is easily disturbed by any noise or

other sensation that reaches him, because the life energy that continues to flow

outward through the coiled path keeps the senses operative.

 

In sleep, the astral life forces are withdrawn not only from the muscles but

also from the sensory instruments. Every night each man accomplishes a physical

withdrawal of the life force, albeit in an unconscious way; the energy and

consciousness in the body retire to the region of the heart, spine, and brain,

giving man the rejuvenating peace of subconscious contact with the divine dynamo

of all his powers, the soul. Why does man feel joy in sleep? Because when he is

in the stage of deep, dreamless sleep, unconscious of the body, physical

limitations are forgotten and the mind momentarily taps a higher consciousness.

 

The yogi knows the scientific art of withdrawing consciously from his sensory

nerves, so that no outer disturbance of sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell can

gain entry into the inner sanctum of his peace-saturated meditation. Soldiers

posted for days on the front lines are able to fall asleep despite the constant

roar of battle, because of the body's mechanism of unconsciously withdrawing the

energy from the ears and other sensory organs. The yogi reasons that this can be

done consciously. By knowledge and practice of the definite laws and scientific

techniques of concentration, yogis switch off the senses at will--going beyond

subconscious slumber into blissful superconscious interiorization.

 

Though the soul is given periods of freedom from body consciousness at regular

intervals in its existence--for a few hours each night, and for a longer respite

between physical incarnations during the sleep of death--the unenlightened man

inevitably finds that his unfulfilled earthly yearnings stir him once again to

the consciousness of the body. When he has sufficiently recovered from his

sensory fatigue, the sleeping man's wants cause him to return to wakefulness,

just as unfulfilled urges for earthly experiences impel man's reembodiment after

a temporary rest in the astral realm between physical incarnations.

 

(p.267) The state of subconsciousness, experienced in sleep, thus affords man

only partial transcendence. So long as the life force and consciousness remain

tied to the body by the activities of heart, lungs, and other vital organs, man

cannot enter superconsciousness. The yogi, in the ecstasy of deep meditation,

completely switches off the life force and consciousness from the physical body,

refocusing on superconscious perception of the soul's invisible heavenly nature

of Bliss. Repeated and prolonged sojourns into the sublimity of ecstasy

satisfies the devotee's every desire and frees him from earth-binding

compulsions with their cycles of reincarnation.

 

Whoever cynically thinks that seeking spiritual progress in meditation is a

waste of time should reflect on the consummate benefits of being able to lift

the consciousness into the elevated states of superconsciousness. In sleep all

the dualities and miseries of physical existence are forgotten; indeed, the

whole world vanishes into the invisible vastness of subconscious peace. If one

learns to produce that mental freedom consciously and at will in 'samadhi', then

when afflicted by suffering or confronted by death he is able to transfer his

consciousness to the boundless inner kingdom of bliss, which is secreted behind

the wakeful and subconscious minds even as the misery-quelling subconsciousness

of sleep is hidden behind the conscious mind.

 

Every human being has learned to enter subconsciousness in sleep; and everyone

can likewise master the art of superconscious ecstasy, with its infinitely more

enjoyable and restorative experience than can be gleaned from sleep. That higher

state bestows the constant awareness that matter is the frozen imaginings of

God, as in sleep our dreams and nightmares are our own ephemeral

thought-creations, condensed or " frozen " into visual experiences through the

objectifying power of our imagination. A dreaming person does not know that a

nightmare is unreal until he wakes up. So also, only by awakening in

Spirit--oneness with God in 'samadhi'--can man disperse the cosmic dream from

the screen of his individualized consciousness.

 

Ascension in Spirit is not easy, because when one is conscious of the body he is

in the grip of his second nature of insistent moods and habits. Without

timidity, one must vanquish the desires of the body. A body-bound " son of man "

cannot ascend to heavenly freedom just by talking about it; he has to know how

to open the coiled knot of 'kundalini' force at the base of the spine in order

to transcend the confinement of the fleshly prison.

 

(p.268) Every time one meditates deeply, he automatically helps to reverse the

life force and consciousness from matter to God. If the current in the astral

knot at the base of the spine is not lifted up by good living, good thoughts,

meditation, then materialistic thoughts, worldly thoughts, base thoughts, are

emphasized in one's life. With every good act man performs he is " ascending to

heaven " --his mind becoming more focused at the Christ Center of heavenly

perception; with every evil act he is descending into matter, his attention

captivated by the phantoms of delusion.

 

The Second Coming of Christ (The Resurrection of the Christ Within

You) Volume 1, Discourse 14, pg. 259; 266-268

Paramahansa Yogananda

Printed in the United States of America 1434-J881

ISBN-13:978-0-87612-557-1

ISBN-10:0-87612-557-7