AVE YOU EVER SEEN THE MIND? NO, YOU HAVE NOT! YOU HAVE SEEN THE EFFECTS OF THE MIND THROUGH ITS MANY PHASES AND ITS MANY RAMIFICATIONS. ALSO, YOU HAVE FELT THE RESULTS OF THE MIND IN YOUR OWN LIFE AND IN THE LIVES OF OTHERS. COME on a tour of the mind with me, into its depths, and find out how simple, or how complex, it can be. See for yourself how easy it is for you to control your mind and fathom your problems from the innermost recesses of your being. All that and more Cognizantability will awaken in you. §
You may not understand everything that you read, but you will acknowledge much more than you anticipate. You will become aware of your mind as it is, because the mind, as you will find out, is the essence of time and space. You only create time and hold a consciousness of space in the lower realms of your mind. §
Through the study of Cognizantability you can learn to awaken and use the mind in its entirety to solve problems of any nature for the attainment of true and deeply satisfying happiness. You do not have to work too hard at this study. You must only have the concentration to read all of the aphorisms and their commentaries several times, and then, strange as it may seem, your own subconscious mind will take over the study for you, completing your task. When you finish reading Cognizantability the first time, go over it again and study it thoroughly. At this time you will begin to understand what was confusing to you the first time you read it. Now you are going to get the treat of your life. Take Cognizantability apart and try to disprove to yourself everything you have read. Do this, and you will do much for yourself. §
Cognizantability is comprised of aphorisms and their explanation of the interrelated five states of mind. An aphorism, as you know, is a short, easy-to-remember statement. I have given a brief explanation of each aphorism, with some practical examples of how the study of the five states of mind can help you gain a greater control of the mind. The mere reading of the precepts will do no great good, other than perhaps stimulate some intellectual thought along psychological and philosophical lines. The practical, consistent practice of certain keys to be found by you in the precepts will, however, produce results. As the time element is involved in our daily lives–so much so that very often we do not have time to do the things we feel we should do, let alone those we would like to do–I have often told my students that the consistent practice for even five minutes a day after many days will definitely produce remarkable results: like the man who decided to construct a fence around his house but, being pressed for lack of time, he could only manage to put one stake in the ground every day. There wasn’t much to be seen after two weeks of his labor, and of course, this afforded much backyard gossip for the neighbors. All gossip stopped, however, when in only two months time of his consistent labor of placing one fence stake in the ground every day the fence stood complete to be enjoyed by owner and neighbors alike. §
You will find as you turn the pages at random that each precept is separate and complete in itself, yet they are all interrelated and should be read in a broad sense as well as be studied individually. It is suggested that Cognizantability be read in its entirety first, then each chapter should be studied as a unit. Following this, each precept may be taken separately and digested through the subconscious mind. Cognizantability, intuitively read, will feed the intellect into a healthy cognition of its contents. §
When Cognizantability has been read by you, it must be digested. I suggest that you do not try to digest it consciously, but take one aphorism a day. Think it over carefully. It will unfold itself in your mind. Be careful to remember it correctly, or jot it down on a piece of paper and carry it with you. All is now ready for you to really unfold your inmost nature. Just open up and allow the subsuperconscious mind to take over. §
Many books are written on psychology, philosophy and metaphysics. But this treatise incorporates the essence of all three. All you need to know about the mind is within these pages. Endless ramifications and systems of thought can be, and have been, constructed, but here is a lasting and correct way to produce results in your everyday life. §
Concentration is a thing hoped for, but seldom attained. Meditation is the outcome of a concentrated mind. Not only must the conscious mind be concentrated, but the subconscious mind as well, for meditation to begin. Once the mind becomes pointedly concentrated, even for an instant, something remarkable begins to happen. Concentration releases into the field of consciousness the resources and actions of other parts of the mind which were hitherto seemingly and unadvisably shut off. The result is concentration not only of the conscious mind, but also, toward the same goal, the forces of the subconscious mind as well. When this happens, there takes place what is known in yoga and Buddhist literature as meditation. Meditation is an integrated state of mind quite different from the ordinary processes of sequential thought.§
The deeper one goes into this state, that is, the more one succeeds by concentration in releasing blockages, the more the various rivers of the mind flow in, and a progressively wider and deeper cognition and understanding unfolds. This, of course, must be experienced, but the experience does come as we make progress in our attempt to hold the mind consciously and subconsciously one-pointed in concentration. The next step is called contemplation and comes as a steady growth out of meditation. One unfolds into the other. Contemplation is a state rarely, if ever, attained by the average man; it need not concern us too much here, as it flows quite naturally out of successfully sustained meditation. There is nothing fearsome or dangerous about it, but it is an experience quite different from either our ordinary sense perceptions or reasoning processes. It is in the nature of direct cognition of something through identity or oneness with it. The aim, of course, is the realization of the Self. §
It is through this process that George Washington Carver achieved his tremendous knowledge of the peanut, leading to many inventions and uses for it. It is by this process, or an approximation of it, that some of our great scientists have come to some of their profound insights into the workings of the universe. It is by contemplation and its final succeeding state, samādhi, or nirvāṇa, that the ṛishis of old, the great saints of all religions, achieved their revelations. We are not trying to attain everything at once here, but you can see the road we are on. Each way station produces bountiful rewards in greater understanding of ourselves and the world about us, greater control and richness in our lives. §
We do not have to worry now about the last stages of the journey, but can well keep in mind the principal geography—the five steps of attention, concentration, meditation, contemplation and samādhi. It is immaterial whether we now consciously seek the ultimate goal, samādhi, which is “Union with God,” the realization of the Self or Truth, but whatever our needs are now, the way to their solution lies along the path indicated. As you progress in the earlier stages of concentration and meditation, solutions to your immediate apparent problems will unfold, and your life will gradually change course toward greater fulfillment and satisfaction of your real needs. §
These aphorisms should not be confused with the popular concept of affirmations! Some people direct their energies, through concentration, on the repetition of affirmations, ignorant of how and why they do or should. Sometimes they come to a conclusion that it must be beneficial, by the eventual outcome. When one begins to affirm a positive statement, a well-qualified foundation of what is desired and the responsibilities entailed, as well as the vibratory rate of the words themselves, must be taken into careful consideration before repetition to impress the subconscious state of mind. An aphorism is different. It is a well-qualified, easy-to-remember statement to be thought over and placed in the subconscious mind, where the deeper understanding of such a statement will gradually be unfolded from within yourself. §
In reading Cognizantability, you will learn much about aphorisms. Should you be one who uses affirmations, you will be happy to learn that when you open the door to the superconscious mind, you will need no helpers or crutches. You need nothing but the willpower within you to help, protect and provide for you and give you self-respect. Yes, I said respect, for that is the last thing we acquire. Respect is too often reversed into pride, inferiority, and lack of understanding by imposing superiority on oneself. Yes, respect for oneself is the last acquired possession on the journey through the mind. For Self is not known until mind is put in order and mind cognizes itself, dissolving itself into its own bed of peace. §
Before you turn the page and begin the study of Cognizantability, I am going to impart to you two questions to exercise your mind. Number one: How can we forget what is forgotten? Number two: How can we remember what is remembered? §
These are two questions that can be discussed, talked about and dismissed without ever coming up with concrete conclusions. Now, let us take into consideration the following: How can we remember what has been forgotten? That is the way you would write it, but I said, “How can we remember what is remembered?” And this is what it means: that nothing is forgotten. It is all locked up in the mind and can be brought out by the proper handling of the mind. §
The next question: How can we forget what is forgotten? Now that is even more ambiguous than the one I just explained. However, it is easy when you look at it in the right light—in the light of desire. For desire is the force that drives humanity onward and through all phases of the mind. Desire is the only thing that holds this world together. So, how can we really forget what is forgotten? Have not all things been forgotten when the focus of desire has been transmuted into the realm of desirelessness? So, truly, how can we forget what is forgotten when through changing our desire we change our life? By changing our life we change those around us and so the world. What was forgotten is that the desire changed. However, it still exists in the halls of memory, in the essence of time, cause and space, the superconscious mind, of which you will learn more later. So, on with the study, and may it lead you into that for which you were destined—peace, power and a positive, unfolded life. §
Vedic Dharma, man’s spiritual, philosophical and devotional laws and guidelines, leads him through practice to the Ultimate within himself. For many thousands of years each preceptor has elucidated portions or all of these systematic teachings to his closest disciples, thus adding to the ever growing wealth of Hinduism.§
It was when we were finishing the lexicon of Dancing with Śiva in 1993, forty-four years after the aphorisms of Cognizantability were unfolded, that, surprisingly, we found that the five states of mind, which were so unexpectedly unfolded in 1950, have names in the Sanskrit language, which I had no knowledge of then. The various definitions of mind and consciousness which form the essence of the aphorisms were, in a way, retrofitted with the assistance of eminent contemporary Indian scholars who knew the Sanskrit nomenclature and made connections between the traditional terms and the subsuperconscious messages of so many decades ago. They are as follows: conscious mind, jagrat chitta (“wakeful consciousness”); subconscious mind, saṁskāra chitta (“impression mind”); subsubconscious mind, vāsanā chitta (“mind of subliminal traits”); superconscious mind, karaṇa chitta (“causal mind”); and subsuperconscious mind, anukaraṇa chitta (“sub-causal mind”). My satguru was truly right when he so often said, “There is nothing new. It was all finished long ago.”§
The five states of mind and the basic laws of transmutation here again outline for the seeker needed knowledge and tools to unleash the force of awareness from the seeming bondages of mind to realize the Self God beyond all aspects of mind, time, space and causation. Learn to distinguish the vibratory rate of each state, using them as a road map of the within to know where you are in consciousness at all times. In doing so, the vibration of your individual awareness when opposed to the state of mind will become apparent. Thus, in thoroughly understanding the vibratory rate of duality, awareness versus a state of mind, it is possible to retroactively realize the pure, nondual state. The precepts represent milestones or landmarks along the road to the superconscious. Using these as points of departure, we can survey what has passed, be aware of our progress and view our approaching destination.§
In this treatise you will find the door
to be unlocked to realize your own Self.
The knowledge contained herein has
assimilated the wisdom of the psychology
and metaphysics of the West with the ancient
yoga philosophy of the East, and is presented
in a way easy to understand and simple to master.
When you read and reread it, you will be
happily rewarded with what is unfolded to you.§