Letters on Occult Meditation

	When the fifth ray, the Ray of Concrete Science or Knowledge is a man's ray, the method is very interesting. It takes the form of the intense application of the concrete mind to some problem for the helping of the race; it is the bending of every mental quality and the [18] controlling of the lower nature so that one supreme endeavor is made to pierce through that which hinders the downflow of the higher knowledge. It involves also the will element (as might be expected) and results in the wresting of the desired information from the source of all knowledge.

	It has a definite effect on the physical vehicles of the lower group; it intensifies the vibration of the emotional bodies, driving out counter-vibration and swinging all into line with the higher rhythm. This results in equilibrium; it stimulates the lower mind, yet at the same time opens the connection with the higher, which higher, entering in, stabilizes the lower concrete mind.

	The occidental is practical, businesslike, dynamic, quick in action, a slave to organization (which is after all but another form of ceremonial), actuated by a very concrete mind, acquisitive, critical, and at his best when affairs move quickly and rapid mental decision is required. He detests abstract thought yet appreciates it when apprehended, and when he can make those thoughts facts on the physical plane. He uses his head more than his heart center, and his throat center is apt to be vitalized. The oriental uses his heart center more than the head and necessarily the corresponding head centers. The center at the top of the spine at the base of the skull functions more actively than the throat.

	Anyone who over-exalts the concrete mind and permits it continuously to shut out the higher, is in danger of straying on the left-hand path. Many so stray... but come back, and then in the future avoid like errors in the same way as a child once burnt avoids the fire. It is the man who persists in spite of warning and of pain who eventually becomes a brother of darkness.

	The only form that the mystic may be said to use would be a ladder of fire or a cross of fire, by means of which he elevates his consciousness to the desired point. He concentrates on abstractions, on attributes more than on aspects, and on the life side more than the concrete. He aspires, he burns, he harmonizes, he loves and he works through devotion. He meditates by attempting to eliminate the concrete mind altogether, and aspires to leap from the plane of the emotions to that of the intuition.

	Manas (Manasic Principle) Literally, the Mind, the mental faculty; that which distinguishes man from the mere animal. It is the individualizing principle; that which enables man to know that he exists, feels, and knows. It is divided in some schools into two parts, higher or abstract mind, and lower or concrete mind.