The surest sign of the Logos in the cosmos, the god in man, is the enormous latent capacity, through the power of sound, to create something that is truly magical. Each human being can readily release vibrations that either bless or curse, help or hinder all other beings. This is determined by the quality of motivation, the intensity of inmost feeling, and by the degree of individual and universal self-consciousness, nurtured and strengthened through deep meditation and self-study. The priceless gift of noetic intelligence can be brought to bear upon each of the chief centres of consciousness in the human constitution. Individuals who cherish this privilege enough to conduct a series of experiments with truth in daily living will assuredly gain a greater awareness of the dignity of being human. They will rapidly discover what it means to alter persisting patterns of negative thinking, flowing from futile preoccupation with the separative self. It is generally possible to lighten the load of dead-weight impressed with past pretences, frenzy and desperation.

   The orbit of the sacred is revolutionary; it is radically subversive to the status quo of one's previous somnambulistic existence. Lest one bring on the abject condition of becoming schizoid, one must patiently practise the timeless teaching of the Verbum by consciously choosing and accepting full responsibility for one's thought-currents. Instead of indulging and rationalizing one's passive tendencies, one must learn to direct undivided attention to what one deliberately intends, to sublime themes that elevate the mind and energize the heart, to exhilarating exercises in spiritual alchemy.

   Any person can joyously rediscover his or her membership in the commonwealth of humanity by incarnating the best that can be gleaned from the great religions, cultures and literatures, diverse schools of thought and differing modes of creativity. Anyone can devise his own blend of flavours from the world's heritage, and can make anything one's own through frequent use. Every person can become an active beneficiary of the precious jewels of mystical texts and traditions, a distiller of the evocative meanings of enduring myths, and a grateful partaker of the sumptuous banquet of human sapience. Anyone may draw freely upon soul-wisdom, especially by striving to enrich the quality of one's ideation for the sake of becoming a pristine ray of light focussed upon the Spiritual Sun, upon enlightened beings and the ethical welfare of the entire human race. This is the well-tested benediction of the Philosophia Perennis.

   There is indeed a self-validating potency in inspired utterances. Whenever one finds a seminal idea or mantramic phrase which truly sparks off some light in the head and heart, and one feels impelled to use it, then by reflecting upon it and by remaining in that current, one can transform the magnetic sphere of selfhood. Thus the soil of the brain-mind is stirred, washed and prepared to receive the hidden seeds of moral resolution, releasing the spiritual will in silence and secrecy, nourished by inner humility and true courage during the seed-time of the golden harvest that will feed the hungry.

   A simple but crucial Pythagorean exercise is not to go to sleep and not to wake up without deliberately giving oneself a chance to dissociate from the namarupa (name and form) — "I am not the body and the brain, I am not the subtle vestures, I am not my likes and dislikes, I am not this name." By coming closer to the constant recognition that one is essentially THAT which is beginningless and endless (OM TAT SAT), one can begin to centre consciousness in the spiritual heart. Most of what is called living is off-centre, and therefore a rather drowsy state of alienation from the inmost depths of being. If one honestly practised this daily exercise before going to sleep and on waking, and then tried to link these two points through a third point during each day, one would soon establish a temporal triad through which the mind is firmly brought back to the central theme of true selfhood. By making such noetic connections between points in consciousness, it is certainly possible to initiate a current in which one can stay continuously. This can eventually generate a golden "line of life's meditation" upon the AUM, the Soundless Sound, the Agathon, the Ineffable Good, and Sarvodaya, Universal Welfare.

   To realize the vivifying and purifying power of the Verbum on a strong and sustained basis is the implicit purpose of all sacred invocations, so that as many as possible may enter the current of compassionate ideation which is the guiding force of cosmic and human evolution. The Gayatri Invocation, for example, is a time-honoured aid to serene self-transcendence. Sometimes one cannot intone it as effectively as at other times. But even if it is not the first thought on waking, one can cheerfully improvise reminders for oneself. Daily replenished by the cool stream of insight that flows from the Spiritual Sun, one may progressively incarnate sacred mantrams with a profound conviction which will endure without wavering, releasing a vibrant noetic force of unacknowledged but incalculable benefit for the whole human family and for all living beings.

   Anyone who can existentially restore the alchemical and healing properties of sound, speech and silence, even to some limited extent in the humblest of contexts — in close relationships or in the company of little children, in everyday encounters — does a great deal for the invisible tribe of Teachers and Friends of humanity (Guruparampara). These enlightened exemplars, by their ceaseless contemplation and timely guidance, silently benefit all beings by quickening any spark of authentic aspiration in human souls into the bright flame that could help others to see.

   The Jewel in the Lotus is offered for regular use by ardent theophilanthropists, now and in the future. A key is suggested for such users. The entire collection of invocations, chants and intimations is dedicated to the unknown but undaunted pathfinders to the global civilization of tomorrow, the noble sowers of seeds in the numinous dawn of the Aquarian Age.

May 26, 1983
RAGHAVAN IYER
Buddha Purnima