Richard Rose’s Psychology of the Observer The Path to Reality Through the Self

208 Richard Rose’s Psychology of the Observer: The Path to Reality Through the Self
Chapter 13
Meditation
With the seeker’s foundation now in place and the necessary preparations made, we come to
the central theme in any esoteric teaching: meditation. In the Albigen System, genuine meditation—
or going within—is defined as: “Finding reality by finding the real part of oneself” (Rose, 1981, p.
19). The final objective of the practice is to arrive at the true state-of-mind, or ultimate sanity, which
is considered to be synonymous with Self-Realization.
This subject seems familiar enough to students of esoteric philosophy and spiritual psychology,
yet becomes confusing when one recognizes that “meditation” does not have one, obvious,
unanimously agreed upon meaning, but is rather a generic term that refers to several different forms
of “going within.” It cannot be automatically assumed out of generosity or enthusiasm that all methods
and philosophies lead to the same place or at the same rate.
As discussed in Chapter 2, the mystics and sages throughout the ages have always testified
that the Truth, or God, is inside of us, but reliable recommendations on how exactly to go about
finding this have been hard to come by. The student finds the different meditational techniques
taught in various spiritual traditions are often conflicting in principles (e.g. should we use the mind
or try to escape it?, should we worship God or contemplate the self?), seemingly incomplete in scope
when compared with one another, and do not always answer to common sense and intuition. For
example, some offer exercises and disciplines that are so arcane and contrived (breathing patterns,
physical postures, visualizations, studies of metaphysical symbology) that a sincere student of truth
could never discover and implement these principles from personal, direct inquiry, but only acquire
them if they were deliberately taught by someone else. Can Truth that is immanent and universal be
inaccessible through holistic intuition and found only by the elect through some secretive, idiosyncratic
technology?
One wonders if God spitefully wishes to remain so hidden that only a lucky few who have
been given the magical combination of factors can ever unlock the door to find Him. (Note: The
occasional reference to God as “Him” is strictly a cultural colloquialism and not meant to suggest a
Deity that is personified as a large, muscular male with a white beard, wearing a toga, who speaks
King James era English, and who angrily hurls lightning bolts to incinerate those poor wretches who
have the misfortune of chanting the wrong mantra.) How does one sort through all of these diverse
paths, without being able to devote a lifetime to test each one? The seeker may be left perplexed,