Meditation alone will not aid true spiritual development.

Book excerpt: Nature strives to contain Spirit and detain it here on earth, but Spirit ever strives to be freed from its earthly prison and return to its divine abode. The correct apprehension of Philosophy can help devotees to Duty and Truth to distinguish between Spiritual and Psychic wisdom. Only True philosophy, i.e., the Wisdom of Love, can help remove the weeds of dogma and correct the errors of human fancy. She is Penelope-Sophia, the loyal wife waiting for Odysseus-Christos’ return. Meditation proper is Spiritual Seership. It leads to conscious realisation of the Truths that underpin and sustain Cosmos and Man, Ideas and Forms. It bridges “the known” or phenomenon, with “the unknown” or noumenon, and instructs inwardly focused minds to identify with All, work with Nature, and live for All. Meditation is silent and unuttered prayer, the ardent turning of the soul towards the divine. It uplifts lower minds to higher realms of pure consciousness by catalepsy of the physical body. Then, by suspending the brain’s mechanical action, the Adept can see as clearly as Truth Itself. Such a deliberate withdrawal of consciousness is a magical skill that leads to the contemplation of celestial powers. Meditation is Theurgy or White Magic, Iamblichus’ Manteia, Apollonius’ and Plotinus’ Union to the Deity, Theosophy’s Raja-Yoga, the Ishvara of the ancient Yogin, the Samadhi of the modern. Psychic powers are far more subtle intoxicants than the gross physical energies. Despite of the name, clairvoyant vision is nothing but clear. Inactivity of the physical body does not indicate a condition of inactivity. For the uninitiated, “sitting for yoga” is invariably fatal. It encourages mental passivity which, in turn, aids the development of mediumistic states where one can readily fall prey to the caprice and malice of mischievous embryos of human beings. All yoga practices have disastrous results unless guided by a competent teacher. A Master of Wisdom advises concentration upon the Higher Self within the Heart: Place your love, trust, and confidence in your heart, and retire there when the battle grows fierce. Practise the habit of careful and constant concentration of mind upon every duty and act in life, and one day you might be able to kindle the Sacred Fire. But unless you are capable of unremitting devotion to truth and virtue, and of guarding Self against self, you are more likely to lose your way in the shadows than to see any real light or gain insight. Those who wallow in the mire of exotericism know not what it is to live in the world and yet be not of the world. Beware, O Lanoo! Read Nature’s Finer Forces. There are no extant works on effective and safe practice and those purporting to be are full of blinds. Which of the Two Paths wilt thou choose, O Lanoo?