7rcTIX1xP

Lesson III: Spiritual Consciousness.279
“‘I also have lost it,’ he said sadly. ‘It is one of the gates of the Way, but to me it has
been shut many years.’
“‘What is thy talk?’ said Kim, abashed.
“‘Thou wast wondering, there in thy spirit, what manner of thing thy soul might
be.…I know. Who should know but I?’” (Kim, by Rudyard Kipling.)
Tennyson, the poet, according to the testimony of intimate friends, at
times produced an ecstatic mood and a mild degree of spiritual illumination
by a similar process to that followed by “Kim.” He would repeat his first
name, over and over, meditating on his real identity, and he stated that at
such times he would become perfectly aware of immortality and the reality
of his existence as a living soul, independent of the body.
Personally we do not favor this method of “breaking into the Kingdom,”
but prefer that the unfolding Spiritual Mind should gradually throw its light
into the field of consciousness. This we consider the better way, although
many Yogi teachers think otherwise, and instruct their students in exercises
calculated to cause this consciousness to unfold. It is simply a difference of
opinion as to methods, and we have no desire to urge our ideas upon our
students, if they prefer the other method.
One of the most rational and reasonable of these Yogi exercises for aiding
the unfoldment is given in the next several paragraphs.
Exercise.
Place your body in a relaxed, reclining position. Breathe rhythmically, and
meditate upon the Real Self, thinking of yourself as an entity independent
of the body, although inhabiting it and being able to leave it at will. Think
of yourself, not as the body, but as a soul. Think of your body as but a shell,
useful and comfortable, but merely an instrument for the convenience of
the real You. Think of yourself as an independent being, using the body
freely and to the best advantage, and having full control and mastery over
it. While meditating, ignore the body entirely, and you will find that you