Volume 9, Issue 10, page 8

AU' you, 700, Cdn 00 g
By HAROLD S. SCHROEPPEL
LESSON 11 -- MEDITATION
HIS LESSON covers meditation. The
I. prerequisite for it are nothing
more than curiosity and a desire to
know something about your own mind
and hoAG it operates. There is one
requisite -- not a prerequisite, but
a requisite -- and that is a certain
amount of free time in a quiet place
each day. For some of you this may
be possible, but others will find it
very nearly impossible. They may have to
do their meditation on a bus going to
work, or some such place as that.

My dictionary defines meditation as, "to
consider in the mind a something to be done or
effected; to intend or purpose"; and synonyms
are given as "contemplate" and "plan". We definitely do not use it here in the sense of
"planning". "Contemplation", which is defined
as, "to look at or view with continued attention; observe thoughtfully", is specifically
what we intend: to stop the milling of the
mind, to bring a halt to its wandering, to
bring attention to a focus and direction, or,
as the Yogis would say, to prevent the mind
stuff from making pictures, to bring chitta
under control. The value of this lesson will
vary considerably, depending on the intents
and desires of the individual, but it is good
training for everybody.

The first and simplest technique is meditation or contemplation: Simply choose a topic --
any topic -- and hold it before your mind, letting your thoughts wander about that particular topic but not off it. In other words, if
you meditate on trees, keep your mind on trees
and the various aspects of them. Let your
thoughts wander down various sidelines, but
only those relating to trees, and bring them
always back to the main subject .

This is the simplest and slowest of. the
techniques. Normally, it will operate only on
the conscious mind; it has a very slow, very
light access to the subconscious mind.

A heavier technique, called in some literature a "single word" technique and in the East
a "mantram", is to choose something which can
be said in one breath -- for example, again,
"trees" -- and find a quiet place where you can
work undisturbed for three or four hours. Two
hours will have some effect, but three or four
are much better. Being comfortably established
there, say the chosen word gently on your outgoing breath. You can say it twice on the
breath, but once you set up the rhythm, do not
vary it. With each outgoing breath, breathe
out the word or words exactly the same each
time, with no variation in the number of times
per breath or the word. Keep repeating it this
way, and as you do, examine within yourself
everything that this word has ever meant to
you in terms of effort, thought, or emotion,
everything you have ever experienced in con8
WARNING -- These lessons in "Advanced Perception" are not to be treated lightly -- or delved
in by the curious for idle or questionable
goals. As the Author cautions, they're dangerous -- and it is suggested two persons with similar intent work as a team. One of the risks involved, Mr. Schroeppel warns, is that some who
successfully develop their advanced perception
"are going to see some things they'd rather not
see". And don't mix with any other technique,
or you may find yourself working at cross-purposes. Which Is no place to find yourself, or
for anyone else to find you -- especially an Incompetent psychologist or psychiatrist. They
may get the idea you're as crazy as they are.
-- The EDITOR
nection with it, everything you have ever felt
about it, everything you have ever known about
it, everything you have ever believed about
it. Examine your total body of knowledge on
the subject, and keep bringing it back, recalling and looking at it, as you say the word
over and over.

When all you know about the word is completely expended so that you do not find anything
new coming up, examine how you say the word,
how you feel about it, how you feel yourself
saying it. Examine the thought that causes the
action of saying it. Sense the speech mechanism in detail, the breathing mechanism, the
vibration of the vocal cords, everything involved in the act of saying that one word or
phrase. Examine every bit of it. Try to find
the brain circuit that you use in saying the
word, the nerve circuit, the little impulses
that cause the breathing, the muscles in operation -- investigate thoroly everything related
to it, until the word is completely balanced
out. Keep on repeating it until it completely
loses its meaning and all the referents of the
word are gone. You will then be in a position
to establish a new referent. This technique
will be quite interesting to those who are interested in general semantics, because in the
three or four hours this exercise should take,
all the meanings and connotations of the word
are thoroly reviewed.

I might add, by the way, that this will do
something radical to your perception, because
every individual's perception is to some extent
automatic, and the complete destruction of a
referent results in a new and clean perception.
It won't last long, however -- a few days, a
week, perhaps longer for some. For me it was
only a few days.

This technique is a rough one, and you
should not start it unless you intend to finish
it. Once started, you should not give up on it
unless you absolutely cannot go on. It can be
quite painful. It can be exceedingly fatiguing.
But once you pick your word and begin, stay with
it until the meaning is entirely worked out.

The word should be one which has quite a
bit of meaning to you and one which represents
quite a bit of experience: "Mother", "Father",
"love", "beauty ", "truth", "imagination". I
did it once with "coffee". But whatever it is ,
it should be a word which involves a good solid
MARCH, 1963
-- The ABERREE