Volume 8, Issue 3, page 4

EIST, WEST RELIG KITUILS

By ALBERTA M. O'CONNELL

EASTERN philosophy, the mode called yoga

is supposed to link the individua) mind to

the Universal Consciousness. There are two

principal kinds of yoga-mental and phys

ical. By the first process of meditation,

the individual mind is brought closer to Universal Consciousness;
physical yoga includes
methods of artificial breathings, plus unusual and unnatural
postures of the body. These
methods are for the purpose of drawing into the body certain
forces which develop psychic
powers.

The Western occultist believes, however, that only certain
psychic centers in the physical
body are awakened which enable these persons to function upon the
first plane beyond the
material. The ecstatic conditions into which the yogi are often
thrown when indulging in
these practices are not spiritual states of consciousness, as
many believe, but are wholly
due to paroxysms of emotion to which they yield, and which are
disastrous to those who
indulge in them.

Another system devised for the purpose of relating the individual
consciousness to the
Universal Consciousness is ritualism, and this method is quite
perfected in the East.

As complete a ritual as exists can be found in the elaborate
ceremonials of Brahmanism and
Buddhism. There are various steps inBuddhistic ritualism which
range from the worship of the
supreme in meditation, to the attempt to reach and propitiate the
intermediate forces, gods
or devas.

In Judaism. we find another great system of ritualism, which
issecond only to that of Bud

dhism. However, the ritualism of Judaism was established for a
material people; it used
material means for carrying out its ritual and never reached the
point where it operated upon
mental lines.

Christianity is represented in the West by two powerful sects,
Catholicism and
Protestantism. These also use a process to relate the individual
consciousness to the
Universal

which is called prayer, or petition. The ritua~ in Catholicism is
on the same general lines
as in Buddhism, because many of its rites were obtained from
Buddhism. For example, there are
three forms of prayer in Catholicism: the Latria, a prayer direct
to Diety; Hyperdulia or
prayer to Deity thru the intercession a, the saints or the Virgin
Mary, and the DGulia, or
prayer to a special patron saint.

In Protestantism, the prayer is made directly to Jehovah. All
religions, whether of the
old world or the most modern, have evolved a process for relating
the mind.back to the
Universal Consciousness - and all these rites are for one purpose
only: personal gain.

In Buddhism. the object is the hope for liberation from rebirth;
it is purely a question
of benefit to the individual.

In Judaism. abargain between the individual and the Universal was
made. In return for
prayers and praises and sacrifices, God was supposed to give man
things.which he wanted.

In Catholicism, in exchange for prayers and chanting, God gave
men mental or spiritual
qualities and personal salvation; but they too can obtain
material things by doing a novena.
This last process of prayer is not made to God direct, but to
Saint Anthony, and if the
conditions required by this Saint are all fulfilled, the prayer
is answered.

In Protestantism, the prayer may be for personal health, for a
person going to sea, for
the kingdom of heaven, or for something elseit all comes back to
a matter of personal
benefit.

The Christian and Mental Sciences have adopted from the Orient-a
process of meditation
called"gotng into the silence". This attitude of mind is for the
purpose of harmonizing the
individual mind with the Universal, in order that the individual
may receive thoughts and
things that he desires, and is a form of prayer along more
rational and scientific lines .

Occultism, too, has its processes for the purpose of relating the
individual mind to the
universal Consciousness, in order that it may draw such
spiritual, mental, and material
things as the individual needs or wants.

We a 11 need something - so t he question arises: How can this
relation be brought about?
The three working tools that the occultist takes for the purpose
of connecting his
consciousness with the Universal are the processes known as
Meditation, Creation,
Concentration.

Thought is the product of mind, a rate of vibration sent out by
mind and therefore is a
force. This thought force is continually being used, or misused,
because to live is to think.
Thought is neither good nor bad, but like any other force, the
use of it determines its
character.

The chief characteristic of thought is.vibration. We may divide
thought into two general
classes-positive and negative. Positive thought is a high rate of
vibration sent forth from
the mind; negative thought is a low rate of vibration.

The will is the positive side of the subjective mind, and
corresponds to the desire or the
positive side of the objective mind. The will plays a very
important part in human affairs,
whether it becomes active in the subjective mind as will-power.
or whether it operates in the
objective mind as desire. In connection with thought, the mind
has three functions:

1. It determines the nature of the thought sent forth from the
mind, whether it is
constructive or destructive.

2. Will determines the intensity of the thought, whether it shall
vibrate at a high rate
and travel with great rapidity, or whether it shall proceed at a
low rate, and reach but a
short distance. In other words, the will determines whether the
thought shall be positive or
negative.

3. Will determines thedirection of thought; that is, the person.
place, or thing to which
it shall be sent and how long it shall remain in each place.

4

The churches make a great point of the one they claim was
crucified because of His
beliefs, but they' re quite silent about those whom they have
crucified as heretics.

0

Never jump on a man when he's down. He may be lying on a
trampoline.

0

The dreading of tomorrow will add today to the yesterdays you'll
regret.

e fIBERREE 'JUNE, 1961