Mabel Collins

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www.mysticism.nl

Mabel Collins was born in Guernsey (Chanel islands) in 1851. She was a co-worker of Helena Petrowna Blavatsky for a while. In May 1913 she met Rudolf Steiner in London. She fully recognized Steiners research. Collins led the Light on The Path lodge of the Theosophical Society together with D.N. Dunlop. She wrote The Blossom and the Fruit- A True Story of a Black Magician, Idyll of the White Lotus, When the Sun moves Northwards, Light on the Path, The Story of the Year and many other books. Mabel Collins died on March 31 1927 in Glocester (England)

notes explaining these guidelines herself, I'll try to give explanations of these very concise statements in my own words, but always within the spirit wherein Collins wrote them. Perhaps this is somehow not a very plausible method from a hermeneutical point of view, but wherever I can I will quote Collins herself from her commentary to affirm my explanations.

`Light on the Path' is written in two parts, each consisting of 21 guidelines. These guidelines are written for beginners who want to take the mystic Path, but they are useful also for those who have already progressed along the Way. These guidelines are not primarily moral precepts, but are like beacons that can point the way to the ultimate goal. For meditators who have been training a long time these guidelines become just the way things are. For beginners it is worthwhile to follow them as they make training easier and give some structure to the mind that can be bewildered in the beginning and at a loss sometimes about what to do in a given situation. The guidelines offer some sort of a basis to your life, not because you ought to, but because they have proved valid as a means to happiness. Let's discuss them successively. In it you'll find the basic doctrine of mysticism in concise form, much like the sutra's of ancient Indian mysticism. The words of Collins herself are written in light blue. My personal commentary is in dark.
 

1. Kill out ambition.

In order to be happy you have to be able to totally relax in that what's been given at this very moment. Happiness can only be in the here and now. True happiness is only to be found outside of time, in the eternal here and now. Happiness is not some far away goal in the future, but it is within our reach at this very moment. It only needs a shift in consciousness to be aware of it. It is always reachable and attainable in the transcendent world. Happiness is already here, on the vertical level of our spiritual existence, not on the horizontal level of time and space. You only have to become aware of it.

The first problem with ambition is that it takes you out of this here and now and shifts the focus of your attention to an uncertain future. It makes you daydream about probabilities that may come true or may not. In fact the outcome of ambition is totally beyond our reach, though we dream it is not. So we strongly force our will to act in favour of our ambition. But the strength of our will is uncertain and wavering. Everybody knows the daily shortcomings of our will. If you have a lot of ambition, then great conflicts between your will (or rather the lack of it) and that ambition are bound to arise. You will feel split between the high goals you've set up and your human shortcomings. These conflicts will result in stress and disappointments, obstacles on your way to Self-realisation.

The second problem with ambition is that it tends to inflate your ego to much. The dreams about success and high personal status make you feel big and important. You begin to think highly of yourself, that in fact it is you who can accomplish everything in life, while all (great) things are in fact accomplished deo volente. Success, and even dreams of success, are always the greatest obstacle on your way to the Mystic Union, because you eventually have to fuse your ego into higher modes of awareness to climb onwards to your Higher Self. You have to become utterly aware of the fact that things go the way they go. That's the way divinity works. Success gives the ill-founded impression that it's a just reward for personal endeavours. To obtain the ultimate bliss it's better to have disappointments and suffering in life. Then it will be much easier to fuse your ego into the higher mode.

Thirdly it is easy to observe that ambition is a tension of the mind and the will. It's the opposite of relaxation. Remember, relaxation is your way to happiness and not tension. This is the basic rule in mysticism. Happiness comes always by ease, not by effort. And it's very funny in a way to observe how most people have this great misconception about happiness, that it takes a lot of effort. You are so used to making efforts to fulfil your ambitions and your goals, that you also think that it needs ambition in order to become happy. But this is what we call in linguistics an oxymoron. The equation of ambition and happiness is like black snow. Categories that don't fit together.

2. Kill out desire of life.

Your clinging to life and your fear of death can also be an obstacle on your Way. Personal life is holy. But personal life has boundaries, while Spirit is beyond space and time. So you have to be more concerned about Spirit than about your personal life. One day your life will end. It's better to train already yourself in letting it go and not cling to it. (more about death and about mysticism as a way to end fear of death at the essay page 'death, our teacher' )

But it's wrong to deduce from this statement that Collins was a morbid pessimist or a cult leader exhorting us to commit suicide. Mystics love life dearly. They will do everything they can to preserve and to promote life. Life is very precious to them. It's such a source of happiness and bliss. But consciousness is not confined to life alone. Jesus knew this. That's why he was not afraid to die on the cross. So sometimes we even have to give up life in order to stay on the Path.

3. Kill out desire of comfort.

To become unburdened and enlightened you need very simple and basic provisions, like enough to eat everyday and a shelter over your head. No more than that will suffice. I personally think Maslow was wrong in stating that Self-realisation can only occur at the top of his pyramid of needs. The first layer is very basic, I agree. But you don't need to have a family or a social position of some sort to realise the Self. The history of mysticism often shows us very simple people with no family or social support at all, who have reached the final destination. They sometimes had only one meal per day or even lived in a vessel. Sometimes they were of very low social esteem.

It's another thing to say that people often start thinking about Self-realisation (in Maslow's case it's better to speak about self-actualisation, probably), when they have climbed up all the way to the top of the pyramid. But it's no conditio sine qua non to become enlightened. The thought of Self-realisation only then comes into their minds, because then they finally find the ease (and often the boredom) to think about other things beside their petty daily needs and cares. They have now everything on the material plane they have ever desired for. The mind is by nature never satisfied, so the question comes very naturally: 'ok, what next?'.

Comfort can actually be an obstacle, when we cling to it and when we identify with it. Just look around you and you can see ample proof of this. Most people find wealth and comfort in their lives much too important. This prevents them in focusing their attention to things that really matter.

Seen as such, comfort does not need to be an obstacle if we can shrug our shoulders in dealing with it, but it seems a feat only the very strong can accomplish. Most people one way or another are spiritually corrupted in begetting wealth and status. It's safer not to bother about comfort, but to search for our richness in our own inner centre. Only there it can be found, as the men and women of wisdom assure us.

4. Work as those work who are ambitious. Respect life as those do who desire it. Be happy as those are who live for happiness. Seek in the heart the source of evil and expunge it. It lives fruitfully in the heart of the devoted disciple as well as in the heart of the man of desire.

The key word here in Collins' commentary on statement 1-3 is the word as. When you work or when you live let it be your play. Play it like a role you perform on the stage, but never be it. Never identify yourself with the social roles you perform. Always remain detached, a mere observer of your own deeds. Don't cling to it and don't make it the most important thing in your life. While you live and work, let your heart always be with the god/Brahman. Remain always in the atmosphere of meditation, even at work. That way you will expunge the source of evil from the heart. For to be free of all suffering, needs a lifelong dedication and a shift in focus. Our attention must always be on the Self.

To become distracted and not focused on the Self can always happen to us. That's why we are no better than the man of desire. No need to brag about our being spiritual or being a devoted disciple. We have to work hard and keep our heart focused. That's why we have to practise daily in our meditations with a steadfast heart.

5. Kill out all sense of separateness.

The words kill out in Collins' guidelines can be easily misinterpreted. They seem to be exhortations aimed at our personal will. They seem to suggest that we can uproot the said evils with our thought and our will alone. That if we don't want anymore to feel separate and know that separateness is detrimental to our well being, that these feelings and thoughts and the consequent acts of will are enough to make it end. They seem to suggest that only our conscious choice and our perseverance are needed.

But for a good interpretation of the guidelines it is necessary to see that the said evils can only be ended by our spiritual will. To end all evils and suffering can only be the doing of the Self. We need to be very humble. If we want all sense of separateness to end then we let the god/Brahman end it. It can never be of our doing. Our personal will is not strong enough to do the job. Only if we surrender to the higher will of the Lord can we end all evils. But then it will not be our doing anymore.

Therefore the mystic is so humble and so grateful. He feels himself being freed of all sense of separateness. He feels himself connected to all and everything in the universe with bonds of love and ecstasy. But tears of gratefulness are in his eyes because he knows that this joy and this bliss is not his doing. If he is so utterly psychologically healthy it is only by grace and by grace alone. So do not try to kill it out, but let it be killed out by your meditations. The Self will work it out for you, if you only let It.

For the modern sense of separateness see my article on Alan Watts.

6. Kill out desire for sensation.

The focus of your attention must be inward bound. There you will find true happiness and not in the outside world of sensation. If you have found this inward happiness, then all your sensations will have the colour of happiness. But not before and never can you reverse the order of things. First make the Self fill your whole soul. Then all the blissfulness of It will be in your sensations. Collins is not condemning the outside world of sensation. She only wants our desire to be focused on the Lord.

7. Kill out the hunger for growth.

Collins is a very experienced Master. She knows that your very desire to be spiritual, to be enlightened can be the greatest obstacle on your Way. This hunger for growth can become so great and so vehement in your soul, that it can make you totally tensed and frustrated. You can become very impatient. Then your own personal self will be in the way for your higher Self to grow. Remember that true deliverance is never of your making but always comes from transpersonal realms. Hunger for growth is always a personal longing, something egoistic. It's better to be neutral and to remain patient and receptive.

8. Yet stand alone and isolated, because nothing that is embodied, nothing that is conscious of separation, nothing that is out of the eternal, can aid you. Learn from sensation and observe it, because only so can you commence the science of self-knowledge, and plant your foot on the first step of the ladder. Grow as the flower grows, unconsciously, but eagerly anxious to open its soul to the air. So must you press forward to open your soul to the eternal.

Only the Eternal itself can aid you. No mortal thing can make you free. No books. No Masters. No religious rituals. It can only happen inside of your soul, if you only let it happen. Just be open in your meditations to the eternal.

Learn from sensation and observe it means 'learn from life'. Learn from your happiness, your suffering and your drawbacks. Wisdom is the fruit of a life long learning. Then of its own accord will the longing for the eternal grow in you. Grow as the flower grows.

9. Desire only that which is within you.

10. Desire only that which is beyond you.

11. Desire only that which is unattainable.

The very nature of the Self can't be grasped, can't be defined, because it is the Eye itself. It is unattainable. Can your right hand attain itself? Can your eye see itself? Only in the mirror can your eye see an image of itself, but never can it behold itself. In the same way the Self can not be seen, but like in a mirror, images of the Self can. In fact the whole world, including your own body and your own consciousness are nothing but images of the Self. They can be seen and studied, but the Self never can. Because the Self is what makes seeing and studying possible, but it is not an object in itself. So we can never attain it.

But do not misunderstand these words. It doesn't mean that we can never attain blissfulness, ecstasy and freedom of suffering. For we surely can attain all these. History shows us many example of people who have realised this final goal. For the attributes and the qualities of the Lord are in this world also and are attainable if only we become It. For we can be It but we can never attain it, in the sense that we shall have definite knowledge about It. The It shall always remain a mystery. In this sense Collins is right when she states that the Eternal is unattainable.

12. For within you is the light of the world -- the only light that can be shed upon the Path

This is the true mystical knowledge. The Path to go is unfamiliar. It is often a hazardous and dangerous Path. You know not how and where to go. You often have drawbacks and problems in keeping your eyes focused on the Path. Collins knows this. She knows your fears and your hesitations. But he offers us this great consolation and exhortation: we need not fear. For the lamp needed to guide us is already there within you. We only have to trust. Our meditation itself will show us the way. Only let it be.

Isn't this very beautiful? Isn't this a comfort to all the people in the world who are in distress? You already, now at this very moment, have the light within you. Compare it with a wound your body has suffered in a small accident, eg. when you've cut yourself with a knife in the kitchen. You take care of the wound. You clean it, you disinfect it. You wrap it in some bandage. Ok, these are your preparations for the healing. But wouldn't it be preposterous to say that it is you who are healing the wound? Can you ever by an act of your own personal will repair the damaged cells in the wound? No, it can never be. You must let the wound heal itself.

So it's the case with all your sufferings, with al your evil, with all your neuroses. You must let them be healed by something greater than you. Only the Force can heal you. But you have to let it happen. The Light inside of you wants you to be totally blissful, totally healthy, totally ecstatic. Let It work in you. It's the best and only therapist there is.

13. Desire power ardently.

Yes, but it is not the power of your personal will, but the power of your spiritual will. In fact this power is far more powerful than your will ever can be. It's the power that made the universe, the power that gave life to everything and at the same time can take it away every moment. It's nothing of your doing. It is the only omnipotent power in the world. It can never be in your personal hands but you are in its hands. That's the meaning here. Be in the power of the Lord and only then will you truly be powerful. Desire this power ardently.

14. Desire peace fervently.

It's a very strange and in some respect funny thing to observe that only a few people in the world really desire peace, though all of them say so. Sometimes you can even see them fighting for peace, quite a paradox, as it seems. How in the world will you ever be peaceful, if you let your whole soul be filled with murderous aggression? It will take years and perhaps a lifetime to be peaceful again, if you have fought for peace with guns and bombs. And a peace founded on aggression and power is no peace at all, but merely a temporal absence of war. The hatred and the aggression still remains in the heart of everybody and is waiting its chance to come out again.

Collective peace can only be the sum of all the peace in the hearts of everybody living in a given society. Peace is firstly something psychological and only secondly something social. So there is only collective peace, when the individual living in that society feels peaceful. There is so much war going on in the world, on all levels, beginning with domestic violence and ending with state against state, because so many individuals don't desire peace.

For everybody is running away from himself. Everybody wants to be distracted and amused. Everybody wants to feel kicks every moment of the day. Everybody wants to hear loud noise and see wild and exciting images, only to disturb the peace that happens if you sit down and listen to yourself. For there is nothing so loathsome, it seems, as to be all alone by yourself and experiencing peace. To be peaceful is for most people a hell of a bore.

But you can only be happy when your heart is peaceful. So you have to desire peace fervently. Look for quietness and tranquillity above all. Be alone with yourself and enjoy the silence. Go to places where the atmosphere is peaceful and nice. Avoid stressful circumstances. Give and receive love to your fellow man, because love makes you peaceful and peace makes you happy. This is probably a major shift in your consciousness, but ponder this truth daily and over and over again: not excitement makes a man happy, but tranquillity.

So you will find that the spiritual man, the man of enlightenment, is very peaceful, very serene and very tranquil. His nervous system is perfectly stilled down by long years of meditation. Out of his stillness grows forth his happiness and ecstasy. His gestures are very slow and tranquil. He's full of energy, but it is a silent energy, an energy with no waste of power. He still loves exciting things and he's full of laughter. But most of all he loves quietness and peace. That's why he is so utterly innocent. He's become so happy, because he has learned the truth, that first and foremost you have to desire peace fervently.

15. Desire possessions above all.

16. But those possessions must belong to the pure soul only

Only the natural possessions of the pure soul, like love, blissfulness, compassion give you everlasting contentment. All material possessions can be fun to have but don't last. For nothing that is embodied can aid you (8). And you are looking for everlasting redemption.

17. Seek out the way.

18. Seek the way by retreating within.

19. Seek the way by advancing boldly without.

There seems to be a contradiction between guideline 18 and 19. For how can the Way at the same time be retreating within and advancing boldly without? Is it not stated that we can only find liberation through our daily spiritual practices? Wasn't the Way of the mystics the way of introspection and knowledge of the Self? Yes. But not just that. We also have to know the world. For the world is also an aspect of the Self. We will know the Self partially, if we only look into our self. That's why we have to go into the world and advance boldly, without fear, for the world is an instrument of the Self also to give us knowledge.

20. Seek it not by any one road. To each temperament there is one road which seems the most desirable. But the way is not found by devotion alone, by religious contemplation alone, by ardent progress, by self-sacrificing labour, by studious observation of life.

The Masters warn you to avoid two snares, two misunderstandings that can prove fatal to your liberation. One is the wrong notion that the Way to progress is the same for everybody. In fact all individuals have their own unique Path to follow. No two Paths are alike. Everybody is different. The Christ had a different temperament compared to the Buddha. And when you'll reach your final destination, you'll may resemble the Christ and the Buddha in many respects, but in many you will be utterly different. Because you are an unique person, that can only happen once. Everybody has to find out to a certain extent where his Path lies. For someone this means for instance that helping children is a very important aspect. Another person can't do it without being of service to society. Still another one has to make beautiful things to find her true fulfilment.

For the second wrong notion is that spirituality is an aspect of life totally divorced from all other aspects of life. But spirituality is life in all its aspects. There is nothing that is not spiritual. There are degrees in value, that's for sure. Helping people is more spiritual than murder. But these are only relative values. All things in the world are meant to discover the hidden spiritual quality and ultimately to find Quality capital Q. Sometimes evils such as hatred or suffering can be of help to find quality. Then these evils are very spiritual.

But I think there is a basic map for everybody, though everybody finds his goal by a different Path. For all these different Paths are written on the map of meditation and introspection. We have to find a balance between our inner and our outer life. Both aspects of our life need full attention. If we don't meditate our life becomes to much focused on the outside world. Then we will lose contact with our own self and Self. Meditation provides us with the right balance. But the same can be said vice versa. We must not neglect the outside world. That also would be a disturbance of our inner balance.

21. Look for the flower to bloom in the silence that follows the storm

Call it by what name you will, it is a voice that speaks where there is none to speak -- it is a messenger that comes, a messenger without form or substance; or it is the flower of the soul that has opened. It cannot be described by any metaphor. But it can be felt after, looked for, and desired, even amid the raging of the storm. The silence may last a moment of time or it may last a thousand years. But it will end. Yet you will carry its strength with you. Again and again the battle must be fought and won. It is only for an interval that Nature can be still.

The search for liberation and freedom usually starts when you have come to deep distress. When things in your life run smoothly there usually is no need to find answers to the riddle of life. Only when you have become deeply restless, in great pain, discontented and burdened by a heavy load, will the search start. This is the bad news. There first have to be storms in your life, tremendous blasts of suffering. But the good news is that the flower will bloom in the silence that follows the storm. Amid the storm the flower is too fragile and too vulnerable to grow. But even amid the raging of the storm can you feel its seed germ.

In my twenties I had a deep existential crisis which almost brought me to the verge of despair. I almost decided to end my life. I was for months on end deeply depressed and didn't know if I would ever be happy and sane again. It was the greatest storm I've ever been in. I didn't know where to look for help. Everybody and everything seemed to have deserted me. But even amid the raging of this storm a little voice sometimes spoke to me. This little voice (it only rarely spoke, but it was a real and intense sound) kept me alive. It was a voice that speaks where there is none to speak. It was a messenger without form or substance, that came from the deep layers of my unconsciousness and saved me. This voice, very dimly at first but in time growing in intensity, whispered to me that my suffering wasn't for real. That beneath or above this suffering there was another reality that was far more real than all my suffering. I broke down and cried. For I came to recognise that it was the voice of Truth speaking to me directly. It was the flower of the soul that had opened.

Ever since that little voice spoke to me for the first time, has there been a longing. My whole being started to look for it. For I knew that only this little voice could eventually safe me. During my illness it was very weak, but already then it started growing. When eventually I felt a little better again, I felt it growing stronger and stronger. For the first time in a long period there were moments of silence again. And in that silence that follows the storm the flower started to grow.

But in the beginning these silences fade away and don't last. They are only momentary phases of happiness. Again storms come up and start to rage. Because it is only for an interval that Nature can be still. When the Self has not yet become the centre of one's personality, but only a further reach and a far away goal, then the silences and the experiences of peace are bound to go away. But every time that you experience bliss you will carry its strength with you and it will make you determined to reach the final goal of enlightenment.

1. Out of the silence that is peace a resonant voice shall arise. And this voice will say, it is not well; thou hast reaped, now thou must sow. And knowing this voice to be the silence itself thou wilt obey.

I think it has already happened to you. There has been a moment when you experienced this silence. You have given it many names. You have given all sorts of explanations to this experience. As a Christian you said that it was the voice of God speaking through Jesus. That Jesus came to save you. As a Buddhist you said that the Buddha came to dispel the dream you were in. You called it a profound religious experience. It changed your whole perspective of life. Never have you been the same again and a great longing has started.

But you also know that the silence you have experienced didn't last. You fell back into your old ways of life. And ever since that day you are in great pain, because you don't want your old ways anymore. Now you are in conflict with yourself. You are very sick of yourself the way you have been. You only want the be like you were in the silence that follows the storm. Now you don't want momentary silence and peace, you want everlasting peace in your heart. For the voice inside of you said it is not well; thou hast reaped, now thou must sow. That means that you have always looked in the wrong direction for happiness. For the state you are in is the result of all your former errors. Not that you are to blame. For a part, yes, because it was your own choice to be the way you are now. But for the greater part it isn't your fault, because the society and all the people with authority and influence around made you the way you are now, full of ambition, full of desire, full of neuroses and mental illnesses.

But now you will obey the voice inside of you. It tells you that It doesn't want to be miserable and in despair anymore because of you. The experience of silence was so beautiful and fulfilling. It was such a contrast with the way you have always been. Now the voice wants to help you find the way to true liberation. All it needs for you is to listen to the voice.

2. Look for the warrior and let him fight in thee.

3. Take his orders for battle and obey them.

4. Obey him not as though he were a general, but as though he were thyself, and his spoken words were the utterance of thy secret desires; for he is thyself, yet infinitely wiser and stronger than thyself. Look for him, else in the fever and hurry of the fight thou mayest pass him; and he will not know thee unless thou knowest him. If thy cry meet his listening ear, then will he fight in thee and fill the dull void within. And if this is so, then canst thou go through the fight cool and unwearied, standing aside and letting him battle for thee. Then it will be impossible for thee to strike one blow amiss. But if thou look not for him, if thou pass him by, then there is no safeguard for thee

There should only be one war among men: the fight of the Self to gain victory and everlasting rule over consciousness. And be assured: nothing in the world is as strong as this supreme warrior. It can't be conquered by any means what so ever. It's utterly invincible. So side with this warlord and conquer all evil in yourself and in the world. You can find an image of this warrior as an archetype in your unconsciousness. It's an image frequently used in myths, movies and stories. It's the hero who eventually, with supreme wisdom and goodness, outdoes all his enemies and restores justice. Another image used in mythology is the warrior goddess, the wise and omnipotent female.

Never look outside you for help. Do not think that something or someone outside of you can eventually save you. There is no general who can do the job for you. There is no Jesus who can save you besides your own inner Jesus. Identify yourself with this warrior, for he is thyself, yet infinitely wiser and stronger than thyself. For this compassionate warrior is your higher Self, the culminating point of your life long growth. He will help and defend you. You can rely on him and eventually he will be victorious. But you have to give him all control. You have to give up all your personal power. Do not think that you can do without him. For he's the only one that can save you. He will not know thee unless thou knowest him. It's your own choice to be victorious, but the victory can't be your doing. It must come from the higher aspects of your consciousness. You must cry out to him for help, for if thy cry meet his listening ear, then will he fight in thee and fill the dull void within. And if this is so, then canst thou go through the fight cool and unwearied, standing aside and letting him battle for thee. Then it will be impossible for thee to strike one blow amiss. But if thou look not for him, if thou pass him by, then there is no safeguard for thee.

The warrior will fill the dull void within. That means that there won't be any loneliness anymore. If the self is enlarged by all the dynamics of the higher Self, then there will be no despair anymore, no hatred, no lack in self assurance, no existential nausea. He will conquer all suffering deep inside of you. And that will not be the end of the battle. For when the warrior smells victory, he will not stop before he has conquered the whole world. With every individual victory he will gain strength and scope. Then eventually the whole world will be liberated from suffering. For the warrior is very compassionate.

5. Listen to the song of life.

6. Store in your memory the melody you hear.

7. Learn from it the lesson of harmony.

The reason music is so very attractive to the senses comes from the fact that music is the basic quality of life. Every time we hear music and appreciate it, we unconsciously recognise life itself in its purest form. For the basic pulse of life is a song, very beautiful, very touching, very exciting because of its energies. We can learn from it the lesson of harmony, for true life is very harmonious. And so are we. For deep down we are life in its purest form. This music is felt to be our inner core. It's our basic quality and our true being.

That's why we are so moved every time we hear beautiful music. It's like meeting a long lost friend again. And the old friend in this case is me myself. For music connects us again with our Self, which is always experienced as a remembrance, a reunion with a loved one. For the real me is my Self and not the smaller ego, the centre of my conscious awareness. But most of the time I only identify my self with this smaller ego, which is an error in perception. Music can restore this error again, by reconnecting us.

That's why Collins exhorts us to listen to the song of life. For life's music is the sound of the warrior. With the aid of this music he will obtain his final victory. It only needs to be in tune with this music. Life's music will connect us with the warrior in us.

8. You can stand upright now, firm as a rock amid the turmoil, obeying the warrior who is thyself and thy king. Unconcerned in the battle save to do his bidding, having no longer any care as to the result of the battle, for one thing only is important, that the warrior shall win, and you know he is incapable of defeat -- standing thus, cool and awakened, use the hearing you have acquired by pain and by the destruction of pain.

In order to let the warrior do its work, you have to become a witness to the battle that's raging inside you. You must not interfere, lest you'll be in the way and obstruct his doings. Do what he tells you to do, but don't interfere with his strategy. He knows what is best for the battle to be successful. So meditate and observe what is going on inside. See the warrior fight with all your old pains and all your neuroses. Do not judge. Don't bother, having no longer any care as to the result of the battle. Things will work out for the best. For you know he is incapable of defeat. Be confident.

9. Regard earnestly all the life that surrounds you.

Besides your own inner voice, you also have other means to gain knowledge of the Self. Life itself will give you ample proof. Beauty in life will let you know all characteristics of the Self. Where there is evil and suffering, you will see Its hiding. Both, good and evil, will give you true knowledge. But you have to be very receptive, very intelligent and always on the look out. The Self is the ultimate Ground of everything, but It likes to play. To play is part of Its creativity. And one of Its plays is 'hide and seek'.

So sometimes the Self seems to be absent, eg. when a friend of yours is in deep suffering or when all things in your life turn out for the worst. Or when the people around you mistreat you. Or when there is hatred and war. Or when people are destroying nature and the environment. But even then can you gain knowledge of the Self. For you will see that it is not the Self's fault when things go wrong, but the people their own fault. The people themselves put a veil over the Self. So it seems not to do Its work properly. But this is only seemingly the case. For the Self can never stop Its benevolent work. It can choose however to do so by seemingly unpleasant means. The Self is not concerned about the means, but It looks at the results. And Its concern is only with the evolution of consciousness by all means. Sometimes It will use means that we can't understand well at the moment of Its working.

10. Learn to look intelligently into the hearts of men.

Study the hearts of men, that you may know what is that world in which you live and of which you will to be a part. Regard the constantly changing and moving life which surrounds you, for it is formed by the hearts of men; and as you learn to understand their constitution and meaning, you will by degrees be able to read the larger word of life.

Every person you'll meet is like a mirror to you. This mirror will reflect what goes on inside of you. This is sometimes the mirror you'll need to be able to have a clear look at yourself. By talking with your friends and the people you'll meet, you'll gain knowledge about your self and the Self. With the help of this mirror will you also be able to see your progress.

With diligent observation you'll discover the Self to be the same in all men. And that it's the Self which bestows meaning and value to the world. Because of the Self men are holy and deserve our love and compassion. Because of the Self all men have humour and are fun to be with. Their intelligence and profundity arise from It.

11. Regard most earnestly your own heart.

But more than anything in the world regard most earnestly your own heart. The reason is this:

12. For through your own heart comes the one light which can illuminate life and make it clear to your eyes.

(.....)

19. Hold fast to that which has neither substance nor existence.

20. Listen only to the voice which is soundless.

21. Look only on that which is invisible alike to the inner and the outer sense.

At the end of his guidelines Collins wants to give us a summary of all the advise she gave us. Already in guideline 8 of the first session she wrote nothing that is embodied, nothing that is conscious of separation, nothing that is out of the eternal, can aid you. And now she sums it in these final three lines. All our attention must be focused on Spirit. For as the psalmist wrote 'our only help is in the Lord'.

Spirit will remain for ever invisible alike to the inner and the outer sense. We will never be able to see It and never will we be able to define or circumscribe It. It's beyond our faculty of reason. But nevertheless we must totally rely on It and trust It. It's our only Saviour. It will be the culminating point of all our endeavours.

The writings of Collins once more underline the fact that the truth of mysticism isn't confined to one period in history or to one culture alone. Here we have an example from the West to prove this fact once more. All over the world different individuals and different cultures spontaneously gained the same knowledge about life's mysteries. They all agreed on one point: you have to turn inward to find solutions to your problems. And there inside of you, you will find true freedom. Once you'll find this freedom, you'll give the world the greatest gift you ever can give: you'll enrich the world with a new flower. Once you'll realise this, humanity will never be the same. In you and through you it will be totally transformed. For it only needs one little pebble to set the whole lake in motion.

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