(2) A prolonged holding of the perceiving consciousness in that region is meditation (dhyana).

(43) When that condition of consciousness is reached, which is far-reaching and not confined to the body, which is outside the body and not conditioned by it, then the veil which conceals the light is worn away.

(5) The third quarter is consciousness (prājña) deep sleep, where there are no objects to desire nor any dreams to see. In the sleep state experience is only one thick mass of consciousness, full of bliss and truly enjoying bliss. It is the gateway to knowledge.

(23) Finally, after the longer or short period of sojourn of the soul upon the Astral Plane—the duration of which depends upon the degree of spiritual development of the soul—there comes to it the first dawn of a new state or condition, known to occultists as "the second soul-sleep," or slumber, in which the soul is prepared for its new birth on earth which is coming to it. A writer has well described this state as follows: "The second soul-sleep is preceded by a transition state of gradually declining activity and consciousness, and a corresponding desire for rest on the part of the soul. The natural processes of the Astral Plane nearing their close, the soul begins to experience a feeling of lassitude and weariness, and instinctively longs for rest and repose. It finds that it has lived out the greater part of its desires, ambitions, and ideals, and in many cases has also outlived them. There comes to it a wistful feeling of having fulfilled the purpose of its destiny, and a premonition of the coming of some newer phase of existence. The soul does not feel pain at the approach of the second soul-sleep, but, on the contrary, experiences satisfaction and happiness at the coming of something which promises rest and recuperation. Like the weary traveller who has climbed the mountain paths, and has delighted in the experiences of the journey, the soul feels that it has well earned a restful repose, and, like that traveller, it looks forward to the same with longing and desire." The same writer says: "The soul may have passed by a few years, or perhaps a hundred or a thousand years, of earth-time, on the Astral Plane, according to its degree of development and unfoldment. But, be its stay short or long, the feeling of weariness reaches it at last, and, like many aged persons in earth-life, it feels that 'my work is over—let me pass on.' So sooner or later the soul feels a desire to gain new experience, and to manifest in a new life some of the advancement which has come to it by reason of its unfoldment on the Astral Plane. And, from these reasons, and also from the attraction of the desires which have been smouldering there, not lived out or cast off; or, possibly influenced by the fact that some loved soul, on a lower plane, is ready to reincarnate, and wishing to be with that soul (which is also a form of desire) the soul falls into a current sweeping toward rebirth and the selection of proper parents and advantageous environment. In consequence whereof it again falls into a state of soul-slumber, gradually, and so when its time comes it 'dies' on the Astral Plane, as it did before on the material plane, and passes forward toward rebirth on earth." There is another fact concerned with the awakening of the soul at rebirth, however, which is seldom mentioned by writers upon the subject, and which is consequently not known to many persons familiar with the other facts concerning rebirth. This fact is as follows: Strictly speaking, the soul continues in a condition of partial slumber even after it has been re-born in earth life. It does not fully awaken at once in the body of the new-born child in which it has been reincarnated, but on the contrary it awakens only gradually during the early childhood and youth of the child.

(4) People see his pleasure-ground; Him no one sees at all. " Therefore one should not wake him suddenly," they say. Hard is the curing for a man to whom He does not return. Now some people say: " That is just his waking state, for whatever things he sees when awake, those too he sees when asleep." [This is not so, for] there [i.e. in sleep] the person Is self-illuminated/ [Janaka said:] < I will give you, noble Sir, a thousand [cows]. Declare what is higher than this, for my release [from trans- migration].'

(2) Ajatasatru said: ' When this man has fallen asleep thus, then the peison who consists of intelligence having by his intelligence taken to himself the intelligence of these senses (prana\ rests in that place which is the space within the heart. When that person restrains the senses, that person is said to be asleep. Then the breath is restrained, The voice is restrained. The eye is restrained. The ear is restrained. The mind is restrained. 1 8. When he goes to sleep, these worlds are his. Then he becomes a great king, as it were. Then he becomes a great Brahman, as it were. He enters the high and the low, as it were. As a great king, taking with him his people, moves around in his own country as he pleases, even so here this one, taking with him his senses, moves around in his own body (tarlra) as he pleases.

(4) Circulation of the Light is not only a circulation of the seed-blossom of the one body, but it is, in the irst place, a circulation of the ' true, creative, formative powers. It has to do, not with a momentary fantasy, but with the exhaustion of the circular course (soul-wanderings) of all the aeons. Therefore a breath-pause means a yearaccording to human reckoning-and a hundred years measured by the long night of the Nine Paths (of reincarnation), After a man has the one tone of individuation (9) behind him, he will be bom outward according to the circumstances, and not until he is old will he turn a single time to the backward- lowing way, vThe force of the Light exhausts itself and trickles away. That brings the nine-fold darkness (of rebirths) into the world. In the book Ling Yen (10) it is said: By concentrating the thoughts, one can fly; by concentrating the desires, one falls. When a pupil takes little care of his thoughts and much care of his desires, he gets into the path of depravity. Only through contemplation and quietness does true intuition arise: for that, the backward- lowing method is necessary.

(2) Now when one falls sound asleep (susuptci), when one knows nothing whatsoever, having crept out through the seventy-two thousand veins, called hitd, which lead from the heart to the pericardium, one rests in the pericardium. Verily, as a youth or a great king or a great Brahman might rest when he has reached the summit of bliss, so this one now rests.

(7) At times the following can be experienced: as soon as one is quiet, the Light of the eyes begins to blaze up, so that everything before one becomes quite bright as if one were in a cloud. If one opens one's eyes and seeks the body, it is not to be found any more. This is called: In the empty chamber it grows light. Inside and outside, everything is equally light. "That is a very favourable sign. Or, when one sits in meditation, the leshly body becomes quite shining like silk or jade. It seems dif icult to remain sitting; one feels as if drawn upward. This is called: The spirit returns and pushes against Heaven. In time, one can experience it in such a way that one really floats upward.

(15) Reaching the vibrations of the Astral Plane, the Newly disembodied soul falls into a deep sleep, or state of coma, resembling the condition of the unborn child for several months before its birth. This condition is necessary in order to prepare the soul for its life on the new plane. The soul which has left the earth scene with calmness and peaceful mental attitude soon drops into a dreamless slumber; but those whose minds have been filled with strong desires connected with earth life often experience what are called "astral dreams" in which they revisit the scenes of earth life, and if possible may indulge in more or less distorted and dreamy communications through "mediums" and others. The strong desires and grief on the part of those left behind on the earth scenes, also, sometimes act to set up a "rapport" condition, and thus disturb the sleeping soul and interfere with its needed preparatory rest. In this slumber state the disembodied soul is fully protected from the influence or presence of other beings, and is as secure as is the child in its mother's womb.

(24) Well hast thou taught me all, as I desired, O Mind. And now, pray, tell me further of the nature of the Way Above as now it is [for me]. To this Man-Shepherd said: When the material body is to be dissolved, first thou surrenderest the body by itself unto the work of change, and thus the form thou hadst doth vanish, and thou surrenderest thy way of life, void of its energy, unto the Daimon. The body's senses next pass back into their sources, becoming separate, and resurrect as energies; and passion and desire withdraw unto that nature which is void of reason.

(41) When the perturbations of the psychic nature have all been stilled, then the consciousness, like a pure crystal, takes the colour of what it rests on, whether that be the perceiver, perceiving, or the thing perceived.

(3) When the perceiving consciousness in this meditative is wholly given to illuminating the essential meaning of the object contemplated, and is freed from the sense of separateness and personality, this is contemplation (samadhi).

(18) After the exercise of the will has stilled the psychic activities, meditation rests only on the fruit of former meditations.

(32) A Bhikshu (mendicant) who delights in reflection, who looks with fear on thoughtlessness, cannot fall away (from his perfect state)--he is close upon Nirvâna.

(1) The binding of the perceiving consciousness to a certain region is attention (dharana).

(4) £ Having had enjoyment in this state of deep sleep, having traveled around and seen good and bad, he hastens again, according to the entrance and place of origin, back to sleep. Whatever he sees there [i. e. in the state of deep sleep], he is not followed by it, for this person is without attachments. [Janaka said.] ' Quite so, Yajnavalkya. I will give you, noble Sir, a thousand [cows]. Declare what is higher than this, for my release.

(6) When the perfectly controlled mind rests in the Self free from longing for all enjoyments, then one is said to have attained yoga.

(10) Sleep is the psychic condition which rests on mind states, all material things being absent.

(9) When the desire for silence comes, not a single thought arises; he who is looking inward suddenly forgets that he looks. At this time, body and heart must be left completely free. All entanglements disappear without trace. Then I no longer know at what place the house of my spirit and my crucible are. If a man wants to make certain of his body, he cannot get at it. This condition is the penetration of Heaven into Earth, the time when all wonders return to their roots.