Using the "Self-Healing Archaeous", Lesson Three, as a Bridge Between "Emptiness of Mind" and Conscious Thought
© 2002
>> I've been using lessons one and two of the Healing Archaeous with excellent results. But I've hit a bit of a block in lesson three. I can perform the awareness of the physical sensations of the mental body, the emotional significance of them, and then put these emotions into words and ideas, but I get stuck when I have to get at the essential meaning behind it all.
To use an example of a physical sensation of a slight back pain, I can focus on just the sensation of pain - a dull low ache in the upper back, then focus on how I feel about that pain - a little sad and apprehensive, then put those emotions into words - sad I'm at an age to have back problems, apprehensive they might get worse with advancing age, but then when I let go of the words to focus on the essential meaning behind the sensations, emotions and words, I hit a blank. I just have an empty space (like VOM). I don't know how to get a handle on the meaning. Where and what is it? I suppose it is hard to describe in words a process that isn't supposed to have words, but if you took my back pain example to its conclusion, how would you describe the essential meaning of back pain? How do contemplate or perceive it - thoughts without words or pictures? But that is still a form of thinking. I realize that we all are aware of the essential meaning of things intuitively but mostly it's unconscious and gets translated as a "feeling" - this house has a
pleasant atmosphere, something doesn't feel right about this situation, he gives off bad vibes.
I feel like the answer is staring me right in the face, but I'm just too thick to get it. I'm stumped! <<
In your 'example' you wrote: "then put those emotions into words - sad I'm at an age to
have back problems, apprehensive they might get worse with advancing age."
What I see here is that your words merely describe your feelings. The point here is to perceive the *thoughts and ideas* that underlie these emotions, not merely the *words* that describe your emotions.
An example of a root thought/idea might be: Physical pains = old age = uselessness.
>> but then when I let go of the words to focus on the essential meaning behind the sensations, emotions and words, I hit a blank. I just have an empty space (like VOM). <<
This IS a vacancy of mind but you need to enter the emptiness from the starting point of thoughts/ideas instead of descriptive words.
The direct perception of essential meaning occurs without thoughts and words so it is not until you descend anew into the Air region where thoughts/ideas/words exist that your direct perceptions within the vacancy will be given the initial form of thoughts/idea/words. When you re-enter the Air region, look for the increased understanding within your perception of those thoughts/ideas/words. Similarly, as you descend into the Water and Earth regions, look for the increased understanding that you perceive in these regions too.
Lesson Three of the Archaeous makes use of all three types of meditation listed in the mental section of Step One. It begins with observation as you perceive the Earth region; evolves to a combination of observation and one-pointedness as you perceive the Water region; shifts to pure one-pointedness as you enter the Air region; and then shifts to an emptiness of mind with the Fire region. The descent is entirely observational -- as you descend into the Air region you observe the thoughts/ideas and perceive the essential meaning that they express; as you descend into the Water region, you observe the emotional significance and perceive the thoughts/ideas they express, and so on.
Please let me know if this helps you.
>> Ok, I tried this out and took the pure ideas with me into the emptiness. During the emptiness I wasn't aware of any processing going on (it was *empty*) but when I descended back into the other regions I realized that something must have been happening on some level outside of my conscious awareness because I was then able to put a deeper level of significance/meaning into each region. It actually helped me to understand that a particular negative trait in my soul-mirror is manifesting in my body, and how. <<
Excellent! :) That's *exactly* how it's meant to work!
>> This is a great and unexpected result, but I'm still a bit worried that I have no *awareness* of the essential meaning while in the vacancy of mind. How can the mind be processing something it is not aware of? <<
Your conscious, *brain-bound* mind was not aware of what filled your emptiness, but the higher parts of your mind which are not word-oriented were aware. One lesson that the emptiness of mind teaches is that perception and thinking are two separate occurrences. Even in the absence of thinking, there is perception.
The Archaeous works to bridge these two realms by leading you to the most rarified aspect of thought/idea, entering the emptiness from there, and then returning directly to thought/idea. This initial integration/processing of the essential meaning is sort of like throwing a rope to a drowning man and pulling him back ashore -- his clothes drip upon the dry shore and irrigate the hungry soil . . .
My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
16 Dec 2002