The process so far includes the following:

  • Select a time of day and a place in your home where there is the least likelihood of being disturbed.
  • Wear loose, comfortable clothing; loosen shoes, belts, or anything binding.
  • Use your personal symbol to help create the right atmosphere and frame of mind.
  • Sit in an upright position with your back and spine as straight as possible.
  • While sitting, close your eyes and begin counting your breath and RELAX, clear your mind.
  • Now imagine a WARM, GOLDEN LIGHT appearing down by your feet. If you can’t visualize it, just PRETEND it is really there.  The light surrounds your feet like a gentle pool of relaxation and infuses your feet with deep comfort and release of all tension. Allow the light to flow UPWARD slowly covering your legs with relaxation. The light continues moving up over your whole body and as it moves it brings deep calming relaxation with it.
  • Allow your mind to GO BLANK and, even if just for a moment, experience contact with your inner mind.
  • Experience the sensations, images or ideas that come from this moment of contact.
  • Contemplate the concepts described in the lessons
  • Work on the Action Guide from Lesson 6.

After you have followed this procedure every day for several weeks, you should feel comfortable with the method. You can now add a final and more complex element to the practice.

  • Place a table, desk or any elevated surface in front of you.
  • On the table or desk place a SINGLE WHITE CANDLE as well as your personal symbol.
  • Continue your practice as described before — Select a time of day and a place in your home where there is the least likelihood of being disturbed.
  • Wear loose, comfortable clothing; loosen shoes, belts, or anything binding.
  • Use your personal symbol to help create the right atmosphere and frame of mind.
  • Sit in an upright position with your back and spine as straight as possible.
  • Count your breaths and RELAX.
  • Visualize or imagine the GOLDEN LIGHT at your feet and let it flow up your body relaxing you even more completely. While doing this, you may experience a tingling sensation in your body wherever the golden light touches you. Moving the light will cause the tingling to move as well. THIS IS NATURAL for meditators. With practice you can isolate the tingling sensation anywhere in your body just by focusing the light onto that spot. You can also experience a change in temperature wherever the light is directed. Use this process to erase tension and stress from anyplace in your body that needs it and also erase pain. (Advanced practitioners can influence the body’s natural healing abilities and can direct the light energy to other people as well).
  • NOW ADD THIS NEW FEATURE — When you are as relaxed as you choose to be, look into the burning candle flame. It may take you awhile to feel comfortable doing this so take your time. Practice until you can stare intently at the flame for approximately one to five minutes (you do not have to time yourself) and then close your eyes. The candle should be close enough to you so that you can see the flame clearly without a lot of background or peripheral objects interfering with your focus, but not so close that it causes discomfort – you should NOT feel the heat of the flame. Concentrating on the flame will help you acquire focus and a steadiness of mind. It will help you quiet the thoughts of the day and let you develop the stillness that will lead to more intense and gratifying experiences.
  • With your eyes closed you should experience an after image of the flame. This is a natural product of staring at the candle.
  •  Focus on the after-image. With most people, the image of the flame will fade out after a few minutes. Some people will experience the image fading in and out with a kind of rhythm. Some people will notice the flame moving against the backdrop of the blackness of their closed eyes. However the after-image appears to you, concentrate on it. Try to sustain the image for as long as possible. You have now switched from looking intently at the physical flame to holding the flame’s image in your mind’s eye or your Third Eye. This inner concentration will continue to still your mind, freeing it from outer, daily thoughts, till you begin to become more and more aware of the INNER CONSCIOUSNESS of your mind.
  • As the image of the flame begins to fade, continue to sit quietly and concentrate on your experience of the Inner Consciousness of your mind.
  • At this point, you may experience certain phenomena.
    • Cloud-like formations of color.
    • Pictures of various things, flat or multi-dimensional.
    • An inner light

The pictures one sees may be one of the following:

  1. Memories.
  2. Otherworldly images. Mystics speak of different worlds or planes of consciousness. One is the ASTRAL WORLD. This is a non-physical level of existence. It is the basis for the physical world and a place where certain non-physical beings exist. All you need to know about this is that there are many phases or vibrations of existence. Some are much subtler than the normal one we are usually aware of and that can be described as the Physical World. Meditation brings more of these other worlds into our awareness. If your mind makes contact with any of these subtler realms or dimensions of the mind, such as the Astral World, you will generally experience an energy change in your body. At first, this may be frightening. Just remember it takes a great deal of effort to maintain contact with these other states and you will not have to endure the experience for long. In reality, you are merely an OBSERVER at this point and NOTHING CAN HAPPEN to you. What you are learning is that other dimensions really do exist. The implication of this knowledge to you is that the Physical World, particularly your physical LIFE, is not all there is in the universe. It is to these other realms our minds travel after physical death. For this reason, Mystics speak of death as a TRANSITION – life goes on and experience continues. It is unlikely you will notice much in the Astral World until you have been meditating successfully for a very long time, however, the experience, subjective though it is, should confirm for you the existence of these other dimensions. Remember if the world is a palace there are many rooms and mysterious corridors for your gradual exploration.

Should you experience this contact and feel undue discomfort, you can lessen the sensation by preparing yourself and your environment beforehand with a mental clearing process.

Add this extra step to your practice:

Before gazing into the candle flame, imagine that your body is surrounded by a pure white, protective light; a light so pure and strong that NOTHING can penetrate it. Maintain your awareness of this protective light throughout your meditation session. And use this protective light at any time of the day that you feel you might need to keep free of negative thoughts or influences.

  1. Other images you may see are religious symbols of all kinds: a cross, a Star of David, etc. These images ORIGINATED during the meditation sessions of the great mystics of the past. Symbols are common property of all people throughout the world and across time. The culture and society we are born into influences our favored or more familiar symbols. At some point you may also perceive a PERSONAL SYMBOL – either an original image or something you have seen before but haven’t kept in mind. This image might elicit a special emotional response in you. You might feel a particular connection to it. If you choose you can make this new image the symbol you use for your meditation practice.
  2. If you go even deeper into your inner mind, you may begin to perceive images you associate with Christ or Buddha or Krishna. Again, don’t be afraid. These are aspects of the deepest part of our being, the part most intimately connected with the Universal Spirit. The images come from beyond the ordinary awareness of the mind but reflect the saying of the Master Jesus that “the Kingdom of God is within us.” You are experiencing the world of the Mystic and noticing different aspects of the Universal Mind, or God-Mind.
  3. Finally, you may see an Inner Light. This light may be one of two things:

i)              An Astral Light or one that still forms a part of your sense of personal self. This Light is still a part of the limited perception of your psychic or mystic mind – it is still from within you.

ii)             THE LIGHT – the thing that all mystics seek. Here there is no longer a “SELF.” There is only ONENESS with GOD, whatever you conceive God to be. All self is removed and replaced by Universal Awareness or COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS. There is no physical body only the INNER LIGHT. The thrill of the experience of basking in this radiation of true LIGHT, LIFE and LOVE is beyond description. If you experience this, rejoice and remember it – strive for it ever after.

Whatever you experience, or even if you don’t experience anything at all unusual, continue to meditate for 10 minutes. If you like you can gradually increase the meditation time – if your schedule permits and your intuition guides you. However, as mentioned before, don’t do much past an hour. More than one hour will likely interfere with and unduly complicate the life style and obligations of the normal person today.

At this point you might also want to do two sessions a day – one in the morning and one in the evening. If you feel comfortable with this, by all means go with it.

To end your session, take three deep, full breaths, open your eyes and say: “It is done. Thank you for this experience.” You are thanking that aspect of yourself that already has direct contact with the Cosmic Intelligence.  Over the next few months or years you will become very familiar with this inner part of yourself. Later, you will understand and appreciate the gratitude you should be expressing at the gifts this part of you and the Cosmic in general, are providing you.

Take your time with this method. Work at it slowly. The important thing for the first few months is simply to adjust yourself to the habit and fit the practice into your own lifestyle.

After doing the Candle Meditation for about 3 months, you can begin to look at more complicated meditation practices from other sources.

Allowing Yourself to Practice

Finally, it is a good idea to hold the thought that what you are doing with these studies is for the good of all. You will benefit personally of course, but so will your friends, family, associates and community in general if you persist in your study and become a more aware, balanced and productive person.

Give yourself total permission to work on your studies and take whatever time is needed to get the results you are after. Mystically speaking, your practice extends far beyond the physical limitations of your body and environment; your practice has an impact on the whole world.

Continue to grow and prosper.

With all good wishes for Peace Profound!