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

Meditation 239
true, this latter approach is also progressive in the experiential sense in that the aware Self cannot be
fully realized the first moment one grasps its significance conceptually, as the identification with the
small “s” self does not disintegrate instantly on command. The quality of this observation must also
be refined progressively, as does the verity of the human mind it is witnessing, even though the final
“leap” from here to Here is instantaneous and outside all relativity. This massive effort at self-definition
is what enables the shift to be made and prepares one to “appreciate” Reality, This understanding
also offers a simple explanation of the relationship between the more feminine path of surrender
and devotion (self-definition through function) and the more masculine path of observation
and discernment (self-definition through comprehension). Both recognize the ego-self as being the
obstacle to be eliminated. Pedagogically, the former could be said to be dissolving it from inside
experience, while the latter dissolves it from outside experience. In Rose’s teaching, “becoming the
truth” is the joining together of both means in non-duality. This is the working through of the channel
from both ends at once.
Although he does not specifically address this issue, one may well reasonably surmise that
there is also a “heart ray” that can be retroversed, the same as the “mind ray,” which is the work
emphasized in this system. Yet, the real Self may touch us there just as well. The Heart and Mind are
divided and in frequent opposition only on our human level. In Reality, and its reflection in the
whole person, there is no division.
In summation, Rose describes the Albigen System of meditation as consisting of five basic
levels; the discussion in this report only briefly describing some aspects of each:
(1) Remembering incidents of traumatic or reactive nature.
(2) Finding the final self among the many selves of voices.
(3) Analyzation of thought-processes.
(4) Going within. Employ whatever means necessary.
(5) Transmission. (Rose, 1981, p. 30).
Throughout the teaching, Rose stresses the paradox that one must make tremendous efforts to
rouse oneself from sleep in order to attain the state beyond care, where the futility of all effort is
realized. He offers a vivid metaphor to describe this course of meditation:
This equation of applied energy producing an understanding of a state of no-energy is
similar to a fish swimming upstream. We must gather up such a ball of energy that it
matches the force of the production of illusory projection. We swim upstream through
the swift places [betweenness] until we find an immense pool that is tranquil. And
when we reach that, all of our balled up energy breaks forth and even the somatic
emotions release their energy when it is apparent that all effort and energy are no
longer needed. Such is Satori (Rose, 1981, p. 29).