Creating a Yogic Personality: Qualities of a True Disciple

Commentary on the text “Swami Sivananda. The Qualities of a Yoga Disciple”

“The qualities of a yoga disciple: a disciple must have faith and be wholeheartedly devoted to the Guru and God. He must trust the Guru’s teachings and the texts of the yogic scriptures.”

All sadhana begins with faith. At first, our faith is weak and based on certain immature notions: sometimes on a karmic connection, sometimes on the mind and intellectual understanding, and sometimes on our own ideas based on outward appearances. For example, at some large gathering, a disciple saw a teacher, the teacher made a certain impression on him, and he believed in him. Sometimes certain teachers can be charming and likable; or the teacher smiled broadly, inspiring the disciple and awakening faith in him, whereas if he had not smiled, that faith would not have arisen.

But some teachers, siddhas, for example, did not seek to please their disciples at all. On the contrary, they sometimes deliberately behaved in ways intended to destroy their superficial faith, because all of that is merely superficial. A relationship with the Guru cannot be built on such external things. Faith in the Guru must be deeper, but for some reason this is precisely how everything happens at the beginning; that is, all such things occur on the surface. This faith is still in its infancy, whereas true faith awakens more deeply over the years. It awakens when we study the sacred scriptures, absorb the view and philosophy, apply the methods, contemplate, and gain some spiritual experience. Then we reassess our view and attitude toward the Dharma, and true, deeper faith awakens within us. We no longer pay attention to particulars or outward appearances. The spirit of the Teaching, the spirit of samaya, and the bhava transmitted by the Guru—that is, the subtle principles of discipleship—become the essence for us. From that moment on, all the husks, everything extraneous and superficial, falls away. We enter the direct path and attain true samaya. It is not easy even to reach this level, but one who has reached it is truly blessed and has a deep and pure samaya bond.

Often, wishing a disciple to attain such a deep samaya bond, siddhas tested their disciples in various ways in order to destroy their superficial faith and stimulate deep, true faith that depends on nothing. Superficial faith is always easily destroyed, undergoes various changes, and depends on external circumstances, but true, deep faith is a state of profound devotion and self-surrender; it is true samaya. It cannot be destroyed, and it is precisely at this level that one truly becomes a disciple.

The Three Main Qualities of a Yoga Disciple

“He must have a strong aspiration toward the spirit and be dispassionate. Faith, spiritual aspiration, and dispassion—these are the three important qualities of a yoga disciple.”

Thus, faith (shraddha), spiritual aspiration, mumuksha—the striving for liberation—and dispassion—vairagya. Dispassion means that emotions and passions must be brought under control through observing awareness, self-inquiry, and jnana yoga. Dispassion can, of course, be imitated and performed for others, in public: “I must keep myself under control; I must be dispassionate so as not to lose face; I must maintain an image.” But a monastic image is entirely external; you cannot deceive yourself. If you have such emotions within while maintaining an image outwardly, that is not yet dispassion. True dispassion cannot be modeled or fabricated in any way. Where does it arise from? From awareness, when this inner observer has been born within you and you know that you always have a certain fortress that will protect you. You seek the aid of a certain king who will take you under his protection; this invisible king is atma-vichara, observing awareness. This is true dispassion: against the backdrop of any energies or situations, you seek the protection of this king and become impervious to external emotions.

Fundamental Virtues and Qualities

“Nonviolence, truthfulness, and celibacy are the three fundamental virtues. A disciple must be gentle, modest, humble, and magnanimous. He must not be deceitful, cunning, self-serving, hypocritical, rude, ill-mannered, greedy, or selfish.

Selflessness and cosmic love.

He must possess the spirit of selfless service; he must serve the poor and the sick. He must share with others everything he has. He must feel cosmic love. He must love everyone. His love must be all-embracing. He must develop and perfect it.”

At the very least, we should try to do this. When we enter the state of Dharma, it means that we enter a certain flow of transformation; it means that we have made a decision, made the choice to change ourselves rather than remain as we were. Sometimes a person forgets that he comes to a monastery in order to change himself; his ego forgets this, his mind forgets this. He wants to remain as he was, to preserve the status quo, his various attachments, his reliance on accumulated experience, and so on. And when he is told about this, he is genuinely surprised. But in fact, this is precisely why he came, so what is there to be surprised about? Change is a positive process if it occurs in the right direction. It is like an athlete building muscle: his body must change, his muscles must become stronger; that is, positive changes are necessary.

In the practice of yoga, positive changes occur in the form of our detachment from what we are not: the ego, attachments, and kleshas—none of these are who we are. When we detach ourselves from them, that is good, not bad. For example, even if we are told, “Detach yourself from this!” we feel, “How can I? This is unpleasant for me; it hurts.” In fact, for yoga, this is good; it is positive, it is a benefit.

Calmness and Purity

“He must be calm. Divine Light is born only in a calm soul. There must be no violence in him. He must desire nothing and must never lie. He must adhere to the golden mean or the middle path.

Purity and self-control.

He must observe absolute celibacy and lead an orderly, disciplined life. He must practice moderation in everything. He must live in a state of contentment. He must possess absolute self-control. He must gradually discipline the senses and keep them under control. He must speak gently, kindly, and truthfully. He must not use harsh or vulgar language.”

There is such a thing as monastic etiquette. Monastic etiquette exists as an educational environment, as a means of training the mind. In society, ordinary etiquette exists as a kind of social regulator, as a moral principle that must be observed so that everyone can relate harmoniously to one another and understand one another. These are moral rules that offer no particular benefit to Dharma. But monastic etiquette is not only a means of fostering favorable, harmonious communication; it is also a means of training the mind. This means that you adopt certain principles, generally to train attentiveness and awareness, to relinquish the self, and to change your attitude.

Principles of Nutrition and Self-Control

“He must abstain from intoxicating substances, drinking, and smoking. He must eat vegetarian food. Milk, dairy products, and nuts have great nutritional value. Animal-based food arouses passions and mental unrest.”

Especially at the initial stage, one must establish oneself firmly in the fundamental aspects of self-control. For example, there was a novice who could not observe certain precepts in the monastery. He had impurities and kleshas. At the same time, he considered himself a high-level practitioner in the spirit of anuttara tantra, in the style of the avadhutas, one who supposedly possessed “one taste” and accepted everything. But tell me, how can you possess “one taste” if you cannot give up smoking? I do not understand. “One taste” means that you can smoke or not smoke. You can smoke ordinary cigarettes, you can smoke some other dreadful substance, and you can smoke it all with the same equanimity, right? You can even inhale some poisonous fumes and still feel perfectly fine—that is “one taste.” Phosgene, mustard gas—and you will not die but remain perfectly healthy: that is what “one taste” means.

But when you cannot free yourself from a simple klesha, an attachment to smoking, then justifying this state of unawareness by invoking the principle of “one taste” is, at the very least, unserious. Purity is purity when you have complete control over your desires. You can freely give up what needs to be given up. At first, you need to be attentive to whether the mind is trying somehow to justify what cannot be justified, whether it is trying to devise a trap where there is no need to devise anything—you simply need to act, simply to follow the rules.

The senses must be brought under control, the kleshas must be brought under control, the pranas must be purified, and attachments must be eliminated. If this does not happen, it is as though you have jumped into the water and want to swim, want to swim quickly, but have a 16-kilogram weight on one leg and a 24-kilogram weight on the other. No matter how hard you paddle, it is useless, and all advanced techniques and initiations are merely empty words. At the very beginning of the spiritual path, we adopt a firm, uncompromising stance toward observing yogic principles and purification, and even if something does not work out, we work on it, but we do not try to justify it or invent anything in our minds.

Developing Virtues for Spiritual Progress

“Virtues for achieving rapid progress: one should be able to adapt easily and should be courageous, compassionate, generous, tolerant, patient, persistent, sincere, and content.”

Of course, at the beginning we do not always possess all the best qualities right away; initially, we lack these qualities. For example, we may lack patience, tolerance, and contentment, but we simply need to develop them—any quality can be developed. For example, if we lack patience, patience can be developed. We can draw up a plan for developing patience and practice it a little every day until patience has been developed.

For example, if I lack patience, I take a thorn and prick myself with it for five minutes, enduring it for those five minutes; the next day I prick myself for ten minutes, and the following day for fifteen. After that, I take a mat made of thorns or small nails, sit on it for fifteen minutes, then for twenty minutes, then twenty-five, and eventually I can easily sit on it for fifty minutes or an hour. This is one way of developing patience, and if a single thorn used to fill me with horror, now I can sit on thorns for an hour without any problem—a certain quality has been cultivated.

Other qualities can also be developed. The main thing is to understand that nothing is impossible: everything can be worked on, and everything can be trained. If I lack willpower, I deliberately take on something I dislike and do it, forcing myself. If something I disliked used to plunge me into despondency and confusion, I can now do it sixteen hours a day with great joy and single-pointed focus.

Forming a Yogic Personality

Those who understand that qualities can be cultivated within themselves can create themselves as yogic personalities. And it is very important to shape oneself as a yogic personality during the first five to twelve years. During this time, we lay a powerful foundation by creating ourselves as yogic personalities. Once you have created yourself as a yogic personality, this yogic personality will be capable of anything: it can work miracles, move mountains—nothing is beyond its power. But if there are gaps somewhere, if the yogic personality that has been formed is immature or weak, or if it lacks something, then even after thirty years of sadhana it will still be flawed.

Sometimes a person practices for a long time and does a great deal, but something has been missed; there is some gap in their yogic personality, some deficiency or unfinished work. It is as if a part of the body were missing, an arm or a leg. But the yogic personality must be fully formed. Patience is needed—you cultivate patience; willpower is needed—you have willpower; humility is needed—you cultivate humility; control over desires is needed—you have all of this. In other words, it is very important to understand that life always provides opportunities for training, and you must use them. For example, if someone says hurtful things to you, it is foolish to take offense, because this is a way to train. You can say, “Go on, say some more; come on, say it again,” while in response you practice pure vision: “All right, go on, say some more,” and you give them love. This is how you act as a yogi; you train yourself. But if someone says hurtful things to you and you respond in kind, it means that you are completely unconscious; you are like the dog Seva. If you make a threatening gesture toward her, she bares her teeth, right? How are you any better than Seva then? In no way. Seva does not train; she reacts in a conditioned manner, and neither do you train. But if you work on yourself, everything is entirely different: you rise to the level of a yogic personality.

You must always understand whether there is any Seva-like behavior within you, and a great deal can be discovered. If you show her prasad, she wags her tail and rejoices. All these are conditioned reactions. When we work on ourselves and eradicate such conditioned reactions within ourselves, this is tapas: we constantly pull the mind out of conditioned reactions and train it.

Seriousness and Service

“He must be serious, attentive, and diligent. He must have faith, diligence, perseverance, and endurance.”

Whatever we undertake in the monastery, we must think that it is not a matter of our prestige, pride, or honor—it is a matter of serving God. Service to God cannot be done carelessly or superficially; any service must be performed worthily. It is not the monk-manager who assigns it to us; it is God Himself who gives it to us, manifesting at that moment through the manager. At least, for the sake of spiritual progress, it is better always to think this way. Then you understand that what has been given to you now must be done with complete dedication, responsibility, attentiveness, and humility. Such an attitude toward service is profoundly formative. But if you think, “This is just some monk; I do not really like him, and I do not want to do this either,” then it is better not to do it at all, because this leads to aparadha. This is a worldly approach to activity, and it is better to do nothing in that case, because it turns out that you are not serving God, and whom you are serving is unclear, since our principle is always not merely doing, but serving. The principle of service is a very exalted state: whatever you do, you do with absolute, complete dedication.

For example, we could do nothing at all; donations would be enough to provide us with food, and we could still practice. But why do we work? Because through it we cultivate ourselves; through it we learn to serve God and give ourselves. This is sadhana, complete sadhana.

Good Spirits and a Positive State

“He must strive toward his ideals and goal. He must always be in good spirits. Good spirits have a wonderful toning and strengthening effect on the mind.”

What is a good mood? In the language of the Teaching, it is pure vision and divine pride. Nowadays, even in the secular world, great importance is attached to positive thinking. These trends have reached Russia as well; in the West, they emerged about twenty years ago. It is very important for us to understand that a positive reality tunnel, a positive attitude, is not merely something cheerful and upbeat, but something much deeper. It is pure vision, the spirit of devotion, divya-bhava—divine pride. It is the joy of serving God, meditating on Him, moving toward Him, and drawing closer to the center of existence. It never ends—this is the greatest positivity that comes from it.

All the gods in the higher dimensions abide in this positive state; they are all in a state of mild ecstasy, depending on their level of dhyana. Just as people have a certain type of vision, mentality, and bhava, so do the gods. The gods differ from humans in that they are deeply immersed in their bhava, and their bhava gives them great ecstasy and rapture.

For example, the heavens of passion correspond to the first dhyana. If you have experienced bliss and rapture in the first dhyana, then there this is the normal state. People need to practice a great deal to attain it, whereas there everyone lives in it without ever leaving it; that is, such bliss is granted by birthright. And, for example, the very subtle level of clarity corresponding to the fourth dhyana corresponds to Mahar-loka.

Unwavering Determination and the Qualities of a Vira Yogin

“He must possess discernment, unwavering determination, and unbending intent. He must be persistent in his intentions.”

To be “persistent in his intentions” means moving forward without retreating, without surrendering to maya, the ego, kleshas, desires, or various difficulties; it means pressing on and constantly prevailing. If we have a weak character and a weak will, we can easily be confused or unsettled. But I think, what kind of monk or nun can be reduced to tears? These are undeveloped qualities. If a wrathful deity appears before her in the astral world, what will happen to her soul? Her heart will sink into her boots.

You must look even at a wrathful deity without flinching, integrating presence as if nothing unusual were happening. You must have an exceptionally strong will, exceptionally strong determination and faith, fear nothing, and proceed as though this is exactly how it should be—these are the qualities of a vira yogin.

The Qualities of a Vira Yogin and the Distinction Between Types of Consciousness

A vira yogin can perform worldly sadhanas or wrathful ones. He possesses the strongest faith, self-sufficiency, and tremendous willpower. He can perform difficult work with great patience; his heart will not falter. The heart of a pashu trembles with fear and confusion; it trembles at everything because it is pashu, whereas a vira does not tremble. He perceives everything either as a challenge, a trial, or a test; he regards everything as a matter of honor.

One must gradually displace pashu consciousness within oneself and become established in vira and divya consciousness. An experienced disciple should be distinguished by having no pashu in their consciousness, but predominantly vira and divya consciousness.

Sometimes you need to test yourself: “Do I possess vira consciousness?” For example, one nun practiced in the forest at night to test whether she would be afraid. Sometimes you need to place yourself in certain conditions to see whether your heart trembles or whether you can move forward and progress without any difficulty.

You must not be afraid to take on difficult service, challenge yourself, set the bar higher, give something up for the sake of your ideals, or take risks—this is vira consciousness. A pashu is always afraid of overexertion, of losing comfort, and of taking risks. A pashu is a timid person, a “foolish penguin.” A vira is someone who is not afraid, someone who is ready to move forward, because a pashu will never attain anything: a pashu is afraid to change their place of residence, to enter unfamiliar circumstances, go into retreat, and so on. A vira takes all of this in stride.

Regularity of Practice and the Qualities of a Yogin

“His practice must be regular; regularity is the key to success in yoga. He must be calm, steadfast, and self-possessed. He must be courageous and courteous. His words must accord with his thoughts and actions. He must practice self-observation and self-analysis every day.”

Self-observation and self-analysis are not self-reflection, although many people confuse them with it. Self-reflection means mental introspection, whereas self-observation and self-analysis are specific practices of jnana yoga that enable one to penetrate ever deeper through the astral and mental bodies.

Self-reflection means that we remain on the plane of the mind, at the level of thoughts; we linger there and examine these thoughts from every angle, but we do not go deeper or self-liberate, and self-reflection is not particularly appropriate for a yogi. For example, someone engaged in self-reflection may keep a diary in which they write: “Today I was told this, and I replied that; I was in such-and-such a state of mind.” They write it down—this is reflection, a form of self-reflecting.

But a moment will come when they learn self-liberation, and then they will tear it all up and throw it away, because none of it matters. If they keep a diary, it will be a sadhana diary. Kumbhaka—30 times, padmasana—30 minutes, chandali—100 rounds. That is the only diary they may keep. All other self-reflection no longer has any significance, because self-reflection has been displaced and self-inquiry has emerged. Now it no longer matters what thoughts pass through the consciousness; none of that matters. Only self-inquiry (vichara) matters.

Eradicating Vices and Purifying the Soul

“Eradicate vices. Stop slandering and boasting, rid yourself of laziness, and banish bad habits.”

The practice of purification always entails subduing and casting aside the lower states of the soul. In the human world, many things are considered normal. But in the world of practitioners, slander, for example, is something bad and sinful, something clearly visible to everyone above you. It is wrong and must be eliminated, just like other such things.

Self-inquiry means that every day we peer intently into our soul and examine it carefully to see whether anything impure, bad, or wrong has crept in, or whether any base, impure judgments have arisen. If this has happened, we cleanse it, ruthlessly cast it out, repent, and perform samskara-shuddhi.

True samaya begins when everything in our soul is harmonious and pure. We do not think wrongly, impurely, or badly of anyone. Those who fail to do this jeopardize and cast doubt upon their spiritual life; they ruin their own spiritual life. From the standpoint of spiritual life, all these things are vices, and there is only one remedy for vices: their purification and eradication. It should not happen that a practitioner has spent several years in a monastery yet still has some deep-seated impurities and does not even see them or consider it necessary to work on them. That is, of course, a grave mistake.

When we first look closely into our soul, we discover that we are all sinners; we discover that it contains a great many impure judgments and a great many impure images. Sometimes this even leads to profound despondency, but that is normal: we have simply begun to notice what we did not notice before. On the surface, we thought highly of ourselves and imagined many things, but our true state lies within. What you say and think on the surface is unimportant; it is merely a façade, while within are your attitude, way of thinking, bhava, and images.

Many saints often fell into profound despondency; they wept, sobbed, prayed, and repented before God, saying, “I am a sinner,” and this was neither posturing nor hypocrisy. They truly saw their impurity because they compared themselves with the purity of God and the purity of the saints and saw that they fell far short. But unless you do this constantly, you will never become truly holy.

This does not mean that one should feel like a sinner and generate self-abasing states of the soul. Perhaps this is done in the Christian tradition, but it is not done in ours. Rather, it means being uncompromising: seeing the wrong and impure areas of the mind, working with them without falling into despondency, and being ruthless toward them. Condemning another person is a sin; thinking impurely is as well, and so is slander.

The Pratipaksha Bhavana Method

“The positive overcomes the negative. Early in the morning, meditate on courage for ten minutes and mentally repeat: ‘Om, courage.’ When working or interacting with people, feel: ‘I am courageous; I am becoming more and more courageous.’ Gradually, you will develop courage. Any virtue can be developed through meditation. Concentrate on developing two or three important virtues, such as truthfulness, compassion, humility, and fortitude. All the other virtues will be drawn to you on their own. Never despair, never lose hope, persevere in your practice, and you are certain to succeed.

The positive always overcomes the negative. Cultivate love, and hatred will disappear. Cultivate courage, and timidity will disappear. This is the method of pratipaksha bhavana—the cultivation of opposite thoughts or opposite qualities.”

For example, if you lack clarity and experience a certain state of vagueness or dullness, you should contemplate discriminating wisdom (viveka) and concentrate on attaining clarity. If there is a sense of weak will or compromise, you should consider its opposite—for example, strong will (ichchha shakti)—and concentrate on strong will. If you lack composure or the ability to grasp a major problem in a short time and identify its essence, you should concentrate on this quality. Through concentration and the engagement of the subconscious mind and imagination, any qualities can be developed.

The Nature of Consciousness and the Development of the Inner World

“What is consciousness? Consciousness is atma shakti, the energy of the Higher Self. It is in consciousness that God manifests as the universe. Consciousness is formed from subtle matter. Consciousness is subtle energy. Prana vibrates in consciousness, and thoughts arise in consciousness.”

Liberation occurs through consciousness; in the course of practice, we generate this substance in large quantities and develop it. The meaning of sadhana is the strengthening and development of consciousness. Inner atma shakti, inner magic—that is what consciousness is. People sometimes say, “This person has a rich inner world, while that person’s inner world is not very rich.” Sadhana means making your inner world very rich, extraordinarily rich, so that you may enter your inner world and dissolve there forever, because an entire Universe lies within it.

A yogi who meditates and practices awareness creates his inner world as a mandala of pure vision. For example, the pure land of Divya Loka, the illusory body, the yoga of space, divine pride, and the yoga of the nine sankalpas—all of this must become your inner world, so that you can live freely in this inner world for as long as necessary.

Awareness develops when we direct our attention to it by practicing pratyahara, concentrate on it, and practice dharana. When we do not devote much attention to external objects, when we begin to live more in the inner world and leave only about thirty percent of our attention for external objects, we become mature yogis.

I will tell you this: I do not live in the external world all that much; for the most part, I live in the inner world. External events are not as important to me as internal ones. An inner story unfolds; the personal reality tunnel becomes more important than the external, collective reality tunnel. It should be the same for you: in the inner world, you sometimes practice atma vichara, sometimes shambhavi mudra, sometimes divine pride or kriya.

These are the events that take place in your inner life, and your inner story unfolds like this: from shambhavi mudra to divine pride, from divine pride to space, from space to the sankalpa “everything is one with the mind,” and so on. These are your inner events, while external events—what happened, a crisis in the outside world, a default, who said what—cease to be important. The inner story dominates the outer one and displaces it. Gradually, this becomes your essence, which means that your atma-shakti is developing.

Your inner story can be subject to your will and under your control; you can manage it yourself because it consists of your consciousness. But the external course of events in samsara cannot be controlled; it unfolds in accordance with the global karmas of people. If you fall too strongly under its influence, it simply sweeps you away like the river of time. Many people tried to control the external course of history—Napoleon, Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great—but even with tremendous effort, they failed.

Modifications of Consciousness and Its Purification

“Prana vibrates in consciousness, and thoughts arise in consciousness. Consciousness is the aggregate of impressions, thoughts, vasanas, and aspirations. The seed of consciousness is the ego.

Modifications of consciousness.

Consciousness performs the five functions of the five organs of perception and cognition—the jnana-indriyas. Consciousness is characterized by three gunas, or qualities—sattva, rajas, and tamas. Lust, anger, greed, jealousy, pride, deceit, egotism, attraction, and aversion are all waves in consciousness. The restlessness of consciousness ceases when all desires disappear. Consciousness is purified through the practice of selfless service, japa—the repetition of the names of God—tapas, asceticism and spiritual discipline, right conduct, yama (self-control), and meditation.”

The purification of consciousness is connected not only with thoughts but also with the subtle body. At the first stage, thoughts are purified. A fairly experienced practitioner can control thoughts effortlessly, so that not a single impure thought arises for three months or even six months—only pure or neutral thoughts. An inexperienced practitioner may repeatedly generate impure thoughts, then repent or not even notice it. By observing that thoughts are always pure, one achieves control over them.

But deeper purification is connected with the astral body, the world of images in the subconscious. It is the astral body that governs us and our destiny. Each person’s astral body can be imagined as a kind of reality tunnel containing many different images. Just as in this world we see everything as solid and having form, so in the astral world everything has its own image. Even if you think about something only briefly, you will create such an image.

After leaving the body, spirits in the bardo world often live in the world of their own images, and whatever they managed to create with their thoughts during their lifetime surrounds them after death.

For example, an actress who loved being applauded and admired will constantly recreate such situations in the astral world and amuse herself in this way. And a person who loved riding a motorcycle will also ride an astral motorcycle in the astral world. Everyone lives surrounded by an aura made up of their own images. The subconscious of someone who was strongly attached to their home will model a house, except that this house will be astral, and they will continue living in a house resembling the one they inhabited during their lifetime.

The subconscious mind of a person in the astral world, who is in the intermediate state in Pitri-loka, models the situations it was accustomed to modeling in this life. One whose consciousness modeled angry images of horror and fear will be constantly surrounded by various demonic images and will attract demonic beings and spirits. One who was accustomed to generating luminous thoughts, worshiping the gods, and visualizing saints will likewise be accompanied by them. Purification means that in the subconscious we cleanse all wrong, impure images. Through visualization, repentance, and samskara-shuddhi, we replace these images exclusively with images of the Dharma.

Pure and Impure Consciousness

“Consciousness filled with sattva is shuddha-manas, or the pure conscious mind. Consciousness filled with rajas and tamas is ashuddha-manas, or the impure conscious mind. Mental relaxation, prayerful japa, meditation, a cheerful disposition, sattvic food, and the study of religious books are necessary for maintaining mental health.”

Our subconscious gives us away. For example, if we do not say something but harbor it in our subconscious, someone who can come into contact with the subconscious will see it anyway. Suppose a monk is meditating in retreat and sees the consciousness of one person and then the consciousness of another. If another person is angry with him or resents him, he sees it. This appears in the form of some image or certain actions.

The astral body is visible to those who know how to see it. It can be contacted during meditation or in a dream. If someone’s soul is frowning in the astral body, that person will appear gloomy. If someone’s soul is joyful, it will appear joyful, and if someone’s soul is angry, it will appear as an angry soul. This is visible not only to people; spirits see it even more clearly. The spirits of ancestors, for example, can see it if they wish to see your soul, and the gods can see it very easily. Therefore, it is very important always to keep your soul in a pure state.

The Law of the Transformation of Consciousness

“Whatever you think about, that you become. Consciousness assumes the form of any object toward which it is directed. If you think of an apple, your consciousness assumes the form of an apple. If you contemplate the image of the Lord Jesus, your consciousness assumes the image of the Lord Jesus. Whatever you think about, that you become. This is an immutable psychological law. In the waking state, your consciousness resides in the brain. In the dreaming state, your consciousness dwells in the throat. In the state of deep sleep, your consciousness rests in the heart.”

The practitioner’s task is to become more spiritually experienced and spiritually wiser over the years. To be more spiritually experienced does not mean merely knowing philosophy or contemplation at a superficial level; it means understanding the state of one’s own soul deep within, on the astral level, and being able to guide it in the right direction.