“The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me.

“He has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoner:

“To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and day of our God.

“To comfort all who mourn; to provide for those who mourn, to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.

“They will be called “oaks of righteousness”, the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.

“They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations, they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.

“Strangers shall stand and feed your flock, foreigners shall till your land and dress your vines; but you shall be called the priest of the Lord.

“You shall enjoy the wealth of nations, and in their riches, you shall glory.

“Because their shame was double, and dishonor was proclaimed as their lot, they shall possess a double portion, everlasting joy shall be theirs.

“For I the Lord love justice, I will faithfully give them their recompense and will make an everlasting covenant with them.

“Their descendants shall be known among nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge that they are the people whom the Lord has blessed.

“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God;

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

“So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.” ~Isaiah 61:1- 11

The Spirit is On Me

Isaiah says that “ The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,” which seems to many to be an odd way to word it. Most would say that the spirit is in me, not on me. But Isaiah may be saying it better than most because a spirit is not something that can be trapped inside the body like a bird in a cage. Spirits exist outside of the limits of time and space, so his spirit is just as much on him as it is in him. As for saying that it is the spirit of God that is on him, he means that his awakened spirit is aware that it is part of God and is linked to God. That does not mean he should call himself God, and Isaiah is too wise to do so.

Good News to the Oppressed

God always sends good news to the oppressed. He sends good news to all, but especially to the oppressed. Those who are oppressed, pushed aside, and ignored on earth, are often the ones who are failures at the false religion of materialism. That is a good thing, as far as God is concerned. Those who have earthly success and abundance rarely bother to even consider developing their spiritual Self. It is the downtrodden, the sick, and the poor who will probably turn to God and seek spiritual enlightenment.

Day of Our God

When Isaiah wrote this, he may have been talking about something in his own time, but this could have been written today. We are living in the End Times and are now under the Sun of Righteousness—the Spiritual Sun with the Presence of God. This is the time that the prophet Malachi wrote about. It is a time for spiritual awakening. It is the last chance for humanity to save itself. And the sooner we do so, the better, because those who do so early, will be able to help and lead others in the coming Golden Age.

Rejoice in the Lord

We should rejoice that God continues to love and forgive us and give us the opportunity to save ourselves. Of course, it is God who does the actual saving, but we must each turn to him and seek it. Then God will cover us with the robes of righteousness, and eventually, we will have a world of peace, love, and righteousness where there will be no place for materialists, warmongers, and other soldiers of Darkness, for darkness will have been defeated.

“Learn to respect one another. You are all conductors of God’s blessings. And if you do not respect omebody, you deprive yourself of Divine Blessing. As much as you love people, you will benefit from the good. Whomever you may love, you benefit from that love.

“A good person is everyone who speaks the truth. You should all pray for one another, or think well for one another. When you meet somebody, wish them well.

“God lives in everything. His spirit is present even in the smallest being.

“You ask: ‘What shouls we preach to people?’ Tell them: ‘Without Love of God, life has no meaning. A sick man comes to you, tell him: Without Love of God, man cannot be healthy. You come to an ignorant man, tell him: Without Love of God, man cannot become learned. You come to a bankrupt merchant: Tell him: Without Love of God, trade wil not go well.. Tell all the people: Without Love of God, life cannot be understood. … Separation from God always produces suffering.” ~Evelyn Underhill

Respect One Another

Having respect for a person doesn’t mean you have to agree with them, or even like them. It means you have to recognize that they are humans just like you, and they are not perfect any more than you are. If it was your child or a sibling who was behaving badly, you would not turn on them and refuse to love them. You want to change the behavior, but you still respect and live with the person. If you don’t respect those who behave badly, you will not have the incentive to try to help them. We only try to help those we love and respect.

Conductors of God’s Blessings

Yes, we are all conductors of God’s Blessing, both taking in and giving out. If we expect to receive God’s Blessing, we must share it by sending love and blessings to others. It doesn’t weaken us by sharing love and energy with others. Instead, it allows us to take in more energy until our energy centers are fully charged and link together to create a complete energy flow throughout the body and spirit. And if you have no particular person you want (or need) to show love and respect to, then just send love and respect out into the world to all including animals, plants, and all things.

Benefit from Good

We do benefit from the good we do. We benefit from the love and respect we have for others. I recently wrote about karma for the Cosolargy blog, so I won’t repeat it here, but the main thing to know about karma is that it works both ways. Whether you do good or evil, what you do comes back to you. It may come back almost immediately, or it may take some time, but it always comes back.

God Lives in Everything

It is not true that God’s presence is everywhere in the material world, but it is true that God Lives in everything because everything has a spirit, and each spirit is a tiny piece of God. That does not mean that we should proclaim that we are God. That attitude results in excessive ego, which is not a good thing. If the fingernail of your right thumb could talk, and it declared that it was you, you would laugh at it. It is just a tiny part of you. Likewise, each individual spirit is only a tiny part of God, and should not say that it s God.

Without Love

Underhill says that “Without love of God, man cannot be healthy.” That is true if you understand that health is more than the health of your physical body. Complete health also means mental, emotional, psychic, and spiritual health. We are complex beings, and our health is a complex thing. We can improve our health on all levels by practicing respect and love for all. And if you truly love God, then you must love all, or at least all spirits, since we already mentioned that every spirit is a tiny piece of God. And what all spirits desire is to unite with God again. That is what the practice of Cosolargy is all about.

“The terms used by the individual mystics, the divisions which they adopt in describing the Self’s progress in contemplation, are bewildering in their variety. Here, more than elsewhere, the mania for classification has obsessed them. We find, too, when we come to compare one with another, that the language which they employ is not always so exact as it seems: nor are traditional terms always used in the same sense. Sometimes by the word ‘contemplation’ they intend to describe the whole process of introversion: sometimes, they reserve it for the ‘orison of union,’ and sometimes identify it with ecstasy. It has been pointed out by Delacroix that even St. Teresa’s classifications of her own states is far from lucid, and vary in each of her principle works. …

“Thus we are forced to the conclusion that the so-called ‘degrees of orison’ so neatly tabulated by ascetic writers are largely artificial and symbolic: that this process which they profess to describe is really, like life itself, one and continuous—not a stairway, but a slope—and the parts into which they break it us are diagrammatic. Nearly every mystic makes these breaks in a different place, though continuing to use the language of his predecessors. In his effort toward self-analysis, he divides and subdivides, combines, and differentiates his individual moods. Hence the confusion of mind which falls upon those who try to harmonize different systems of contemplation.” ~Evelyn Underhill

Mania for Classification

I think it is not really true that mystics had a mania for classification. I think most of them were perfectly happy to leave things rather vague. It is the writers who put the teachings and experiences of the mystics down on paper that had the mania for classification. It is understandable, however, that when a process or experience is complicated, we try to break it down into smaller, more understandable pieces.

Orison of Union

Ms. Underhill has chosen to use “orison” in an attempt to avoid confusion, but it is a word rarely used today. It can mean any form of prayer or plea to God. She uses this word instead of prayer because most people have the idea that prayer is all about asking God for things that they want, while the “orison” of the mystic is more a matter of trying to communicate with God, rather than just asking for things. Her reference to the “orison of union” refers to the goal of the mystic, or spiritual adept, to become one with the highest level of Consciousness, thus one with God.

Steps of the Spiritual Path

Underhill says that the process of spiritual awakening and enlightenment is more like a slope than a stairway. It doesn’t have specific steps and levels. She is probably correct in saying that most mystics are simply breaking the process down into steps in an arbitrary and individual way, so that different spiritual teachers and writers have different steps and different names for the steps, but the overall process remains the same. And the breakdown may be based on how that individual feels as he or she continues on the path. If one feels as if one has made a big step forward, then one may consider that a step on the path, whereas others may feel that way at different points.

Secrecy

Another reason why the language of mysticism may be vague is that it is often allegorical in order to maintain secrecy. In the ancient mystery schools, students were required to take an oath to keep most of the teachings secret, so when they did write things down, they hid a lot of it in allegorical language. This was done for the protection of the students as well as others. The schools of Light did not want dark schools to learn the secrets and misuse them. They also didn’t want new students to learn things before they were ready, and harm themselves.

Contemplation

One of the terms of mysticism or spiritual development that Ms. Underhill uses frequently is “contemplation”. Many people today will think that means meditation, but it doesn’t. At least not the forms of meditation commonly practiced today. Contemplation is defined as “the action of looking thoroughly at something for a long time.” That “something” doesn’t have to be a Sanskrit word repeated over and over without knowing its meaning. It could be something that you, as a spiritual person, want to achieve, such as humility, and love for all. It can also refer to the techniques of Cosolargy for contemplating the Sun.

“We have then arrived at our description of the mechanism of the mystic. Possessed like other people of powers of feeling, thought, and will, it is essential that his love and his determination, even more than his thought, should be set upon Transcendent Reality. He [or She] must feel a strong emotional attraction toward the supersensual Object of his quest: that love which scholastic philosophy defined as the force or power which causes every creature to follow out the trend of its own nature. Of this must be born the will to attain communion with that Absolute Object. This will, this burning and active desire, must crystallize into and express itself by that definite and conscious concentration of the whole self upon the Object, which preseeds the contemplative state. We see already how far astray are those who look upon the mystical temperament as passive in type. …

“It appears, generally, from the experiences of the mystics, that their act of contemplation becomes a psychic gateway; a method of going from one level of consciousness to another. In technical language, it is the condition under which they shift their ‘field of perception’ and obtain their characteristic outlook on the universe. That there is such a characteristic outlook, peculiar to no race or creed, is proved by the history of mysticism.” ~Evelyn Underhill

Like Other People

Some people seem to think that mystics are either frauds or members of some race superior to ordinary humans. In actual fact, they are like other people in most ways, except for a burning desire to learn the universal truths hidden to the materialistic person. They have the same kinds of feelings, thoughts, and temptations as all of us, but at some point, they turn from the temptations and pleasures of the material world and concentrate on seeking something higher. As Underhill notes, love and determination put them on the right path and keep them on it.

Some people don’t like the term “mystic”. If you are one of them, then think “Spiritual Adept” instead. The terms mean the same thing, at least in the way that Ms. Underhill uses the word “mystic”.

The Object of the Quest

Underhill vaguely refers to what the mystic or spiritual student is seeking as the “supersensual Object of his quest.” First, we must remember that until a few decades ago, it was conventional to use masculine terms for things that could be masculine or feminine and mystics could be women. As to the object of the quest, you can call it Spiritual Enlightenment, the highest levels of consciousness, reaching Heaven, or oneness with God. Those terms all refer to the same quest and the same goal.

Becomes a Gateway

Ms. Underhill says that the “contemplation” practiced by the mystics becomes a “psychic gateway” that leads one to higher dimensions of consciousness. It is more accurate to call it a spiritual gateway since the goal is to go beyond the fourth dimension of the psychic realm, to the fifth dimension and higher. Again, she doesn’t say exactly what form this contemplation takes, possibly because she doesn’t know, but more likely, because she thought such information shouldn’t be shared with the uninitiated.

Shift Perception

The Spiritual Adept does shift their perception when practicing spiritual development techniques, and we now know that most of the ancient mystery schools used spiritual sungazing as at least one of those techniques. We know that the students of Pythagoras practiced their techniques while watching the sunrise. We know that the Essenes went to a mountaintop and practiced techniques at dawn. We know that St. Francis had his primary spiritual awakening while watching a sunrise from his bedroom window. We also know that the Spiritual and Mystical writer Jacob Boehme had his when the sun reflected off a shiny metal bowl he was carrying struck him in the eyes.

Of course, just looking at the sun isn’t enough. Some animals such as certain types of snakes look at the sun regularly, but they don’t become mystics. It has to be done properly and with the right attitude; an attitude of love, peace, and humility. Those who do it with the desire to gain the power to use to control others will not succeed in the quest. Instead, they will negate and be taken over by dark forces and beings. So practice the solar techniques, but do so with humility and love of God, and remember the Goal of the Quest.

“The creation of life by the sun is as continuous as his light; nothing arrests or limits it. Around him, like an army of satellites, are innumerable choirs of genii. These dwell in the neighborhood of immortals, and thence, watch over human things. They fulfill the Will of God (Karma) by means of storms, tempests, transitions or fire, and earthquakes; likewise by famines and wars. It is the sun who preserves and nourishes all creatures; and even as the ideal world which environs the sensible world fills this last with the plenitude and universal variety of forms, so also the Sun, enfolding all in his light, accomplishes everywhere the birth and development of creatures. Every star has its genii, good and evil by nature, or rather by their operation, for operation is the essence of genii. All these genii preside over muindane affairs. They shake and overthrow the constitution of states and individuals; they imprint their likeness on our souls. At the moment when each of us receives [physical] life, he is taken in charge by the genii (Elementals) who preside over birth. … But the reasoning part of the Soul is not subjected to the genii.” ~H. P. Blavatsky

Life from the Sun

While it is true in a larger sense that life in the material world was created by the Demiurge, the false god, it is a hierarchal system and the energy that creates physical life on earth comes from the sun.

As for life within the sun, we believe that is true as did the ancients that Blavatsky is quoting. While they called them genii, we call them Beings of Light and Beings of Darkness.

Karma and the Will of God

I don’t generally think of Karma as “the Will of God,” but since it is a universal and inescapable law, I guess it is part of the Will of God. Where the quoted text does this law an injustice, though, is that it makes it seem like Karma is a purely negative thing, and a punishment for doing wrong. Neither of those ideas is true. Karma isn’t a punishment any more than any case of action and reaction, which is also a law of science. And there is just as much good karma as there is bad. Also, Karma is more common on the individual level than on the group level, and it is only at the group level that it can cause storms, earthquakes, and the other disasters mentioned.

Solar Beings

There are beings in the sun, beings of higher dimensions. There are beings of the fourth dimension called demons or dark beings, and beings of the fifth dimension called Light Beings or Angels. When we practice Solar Techniques, we will, at times, contact such beings and they will influence us. That is why it is important to have the right attitude when we look at the sun. If we are angry or full of negative thoughts and emotions, we will be contacting the dark beings. If we are peaceful and loving, and approach the sun in humility, we will be contacting the Light Beings and the higher frequencies of Light and Consciousness. Doing so awakens our own dormant spiritual faculties and helps us raise our own level of consciousness.

Every Star Has Its “Genii”

Our sun is not the only star that is changing now, in the End Times. All Stars are changing. And all stars probably have living beings in them. But as the sun is far closer to us than any other star, we should concentrate on doing techniques with the Sun, and not try to do them at night on other stars.

Not only stars. But everything in the physical universe is changing and slowly moving back to its original form as spirit. We must change with it or be left behind.

“Jesus said to his followers, ‘These nursing babies are like those who enter the kingdom.’

“They said to him, ‘Then will we enter the kingdom as babies?’

“He said to them, ‘When you make the two one, and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image, then you will enter the kingdom.’

“Jesus said, ‘ I will choose you as one from a thousand and as two from ten thousand and they will stand as a single one.

“Whoever has ears should hear. There is light within a person of light and it shines on the whole world. If it does not shine it is dark.’

“Jesus said, ‘ Love your brother like your soul. Protect that person like the pupil of your eye.’

“If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the kingdom… you will not see the Father.

“I took my stand in the midst of the world, and I appeared to them in flesh. I found them all drunk yet none of them thirsty. My soul ached for the human children because they are blind in their hearts and do not see. They come into the world empty and seek to depart from the world empty.” ~The Gospel of Thomas

Like Babies

When Jesus told the apostle they should be like babies if they wished to enter the Kingdom of God, he didn’t mean that they should cry a lot, need to be held and cared for, need to be fed by their mothers, etc. He meant that they should have the innocence of babies. They should be free of prejudices and beliefs that block us from learning the truth. This is especially true of religious and spiritual beliefs. When we are full of false beliefs, we can’t accept the truth, or as some Zan teachers put it, you have to empty the cup before it can be refilled.

Make Two into One

This is a variation of “as above, so below”. Jesus is saying that when we are like the Cosmos above, the atoms below we will be well on our way to full enlightenment in heaven. But here, the Cosmos refers to the spiritual dimensions, not the physical cosmos. The physical realm is both dark and light, negative and positive. Spiritual dimensions are only Light, and God and the Angels are only Light. We must awaken our spiritual faculties and bring that spiritual Light down to earth and make the lower like the upper. As we aid God in bringing more Spirit into the realm of matter, we aid in returning the material realm back into spirit and making what was two realms into one again. We are mainly doing that to ourselves, but also to the world around us.

One From a Thousand

The chosen people who will aid God in returning the world to spirit—the so-called War of Light and Darkness—exist in small numbers. These are the people of Light. It may be one in a thousand or one in ten thousand, the exact percentage doesn’t matter. What matters is that when this small part of humanity is sufficiently awakened, the changes in the physical realm will happen. We can already see some of the preparation stages happening with the change in weather.

Love Your Brother

This doesn’t mean that we should love only our siblings. It means that we should love all of humanity, whether we like the things they do or not, we must still love them. Love is the power that will bring us all together.

Fast from the World

This means that we should not become too involved in worldly matters or too attached to material things. That doesn’t mean we must live in a cave and eat weeds. We can live in a house, sleep on a bed, and eat good food, but without getting attached to such comforts. When we are unable to give up such things when our spiritual quest requires it, we have become too attached, and the beings and forces of Darkness can use those attachments to hold us back.

Blind in Their Hearts

We come into the world of matter with our spirits in a dormant state similar to a coma. We must awaken and develop the spirit if we ever want to get to Heaven.

“We do not always learn a lesson at one trial, and we are sent back to our task over and over again until we have accomplished it. But not the slightest effort is ever lost, and if we have failed at the task in the past, it is easier for us to accomplish it today.

“An American writer, Mr. Berry Benson, gives us a beautiful illustration of one of the features of the workings of the law of Spiritual Evolution. We reprint it herewith:

“’A little boy went to school. All that he knew he had drawn in with his mother’s milk. His teacher (who was God) placed him in the lowest class, and gave him these lessons to learn: Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt do no harm to any living thing. Thou shalt not steal. So the man did not kill; but he was cruel and he stole. At the end of the day (when his beard was gray) his teacher (who was God) said: Thou hast learned not to kill, but the other lessons thou hast not learned. Come back tomorrow.

“On the morrow he came back a little boy again. His teacher (who was God) put him in a class a little higher, and gave him these lessons to learn: Thou shalt do no harm to any living thing. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not cheat. So the man did not hurt any living thing; but he stole and he cheated, so his teacher told him to come back tomorrow. …’

“This is what I have read … in the scroll of the Heavens. The great lesson to be learned is the Oneness of All. This knowledge carries with it all the rest.” ~William Walker Atkinson

Learning a Lesson

When we are first learning to walk, we fall down a lot. But we are encouraged by our parents to try again and again until we can do it without falling. The same is true when we learned to ride a bicycle, drive a car, ice skate, etc. When we go to college, we do not get a degree on the first day. It takes time to learn enough to get a degree. Yet many seem to think it should be different with spiritual studies and they should be able to learn all that needs to be learned in a few days, or weeks at the most. That belief is wrong.

His Teacher Was God

God is the ultimate teacher, but before we can talk directly to God, we need a human teacher to show us The Way. Like learning those other lessons mentioned above, learning to link directly to the mind of God takes time and effort. And you have to know what you are doing. While the popular saying that there are many paths to God is somewhat true, most paths are twisted and lengthy. To be successful, you should follow the most direct path possible. That is what Cosolargy teaches.

Mr. Benson’s tale is intended to say that we live many lives until we succeed in learning the lessons. This is a pleasant fantasy promoted by governments who don’t want the many people in their countries living in terrible poverty to rise up in a revolution. Making them think it is simply a lesson they must learn, and then in another life, they can have wealth, helps prevent those revolutions. In Cosolargy, we are taught that our current life is our only life, so we can’t be lazy, we must do our best to evolve our spiritual Self now.

Read the Scrolls of Heaven

What Mr. Atkinson is calling “the scrolls of Heaven” is just an allegorical name for the great Knowledge and Wisdom found at the highest levels of consciousness that the Gnostics called Gnosis. This Knowledge is not found in books, podcasts, or videos. It must be gained by direct access to these higher levels of consciousness. We do that only by the gradual development of our spiritual faculties using the solar techniques taught in Cosolargy.

The Great Lesson

The Great Lesson is Oneness, the Oneness of all. Humans, animals, plants, rocks, rivers, planets, etc. are all part of The One, the Godhead. That is a simple thing to say, but nearly impossible to understand. We only truly grasp this Knowledge when we reach the highest level of consciousness and become fully aware of The All. But when it happens, we know that one spirit is much like another, one being is much like another, no matter what material shell it may be wearing. That means that all living things are a part of us so killing any other being is killing a part of ourselves. Unfortunately, we have sunk so far down into matter that we must kill and eat other beings to survive. We can, however, start learning to live on Light again and reduce our dependence on eating matter. Being part of The One makes us more tolerant and merciful toward others. We can start practicing mercy and tolerance now.

“A Japanese friend of mine, Shin-ichiro Terayama, who is an executive director of the Japan Holistic Medical Society is a cancer survivor. … Shin was hospitalized for cancer. … He refused to stay in the hospital and checked himself out. When Shin awoke the next day, he was amazed to find himself still alive. The morning seemed to him to be unbearably beautiful, and he was aware of a great desire to watch the sunrise. He went to the eighth-floor rooftop of his apartment house, where he could look over the skyline of Tokyo. He recited Buddist mantras and poems, put his hands together to pray, and awaited the sun. When it rose, he felt a ray enter his chest, sending energy through his body. ‘I felt something wonderful was going to happen, and I started to cry,’ he says. ‘I was just so happy to be alive. I saw the sun as God. When I came back down to my apartment, I saw auras around all my family members. I thought everyone was God.’

During the next few weeks, Shin observed a strict [macrobiotic] diet and performed daily the ritual of watching the sun rise from his roof—the one thing he looked forward to each day. …

‘I began to realize that I had created my own cancer by my behavior. As I came to that realization, I saw that I had to love my cancer, not attack it as an enemy. It was part of me, and I had to love my whole self.’

“Today Shin is not merely a cancer survivor, he is a transformed being.” ~Andrew Weil

Andrew Weil

Dr. Andrew Weil is known for promoting natural healing and the idea that the human body has the capacity to heal itself if we allow it to do so, but we block it by eating toxic food, breathing toxic air, and taking drugs that treat symptoms instead of the underlying cause of the illness. He does not encourage any form of sun gazing, so I was surprised to find the above story in his book, “Spontaneous Healing.”

Shin-ichiro Terayama

Shin’sexperience is not typical of one who gazes at the sun for the first time, but it is not unheard of either. Most of us know the story of St. Francis who had his spiritual awakening while watching a sunrise from his sickbed, and there is the story of Jacob Boehme who had his spiritual awakening when the sun reflecting off a metal bowl he was holding struck him in the eyes. Since Shin was a holistic medicine teacher, it is likely that he was somewhat spiritual already, just like St. Francis and Boehme, so they were ready for the sun to give them a true spiritual awakening.

Mantras and Poems

We are taught in Cosolargy that simple sun-gazing by itself does not result in a true spiritual awakening. We have to do it with the proper attitude of humility and love. And we use a form of mantras as well, so Shin had the right idea and the right attitude when he recited mantras and poems while waiting for the sunrise. We also use music and hand gestures to help.

Daily Ritual

Shin began a daily ritual of watching the sunrise, and we can assume he continued doing so beyond the few weeks mentioned in the quote. In Cosolargy, beginning students are taught to do solar techniques only a few times a week, but eventually, we should all practice doing so daily when possible. Some beginners might think that instead of doing the techniques for just a few minutes several times a week, they can just do it for an hour once a week. That is a mistake. Such long exposure at one time does little good for beginners and can cause harm. We must remember that while we look to the Spiritual Sun, we are also observing the physical sun where the Kalos nature is found which can negatively affect us. And in Cosolargy, we teach that God’s presence is in the Spiritual Sun, the Sun of Righteousness, not that the Sun is God.

Creating Illness

Shin came to the realization that he created his own cancer. It takes a truly enlightened person to realize that we are at least partially responsible for our own illnesses, especially cancer. Cancer is unlike other illnesses because it is the uncontrolled growth of the cells of your own body, so it is obvious that something is wrong in your own body that is causing it. It could be a poor diet, it could be smoking or alcohol consumption, it could be drinking polluted water or breathing polluted air. It could also be mental, specifically mental stress. It most likely is a combination of several of these things. The point is, admitting that he was responsible for his cancer was an important first step in curing it. He knew that he had to change himself, not look outside for help. Of course, his morning ritual of sun gazing was helping, but he had to make the decision to do that and do it with the proper attitude. The same is true for many other illnesses. We might not be able to cure all illnesses without drugs or surgery, but we can cure a lot of them, far more than we do now. That is true of mental problems as well. And while we don’t think of it as illness, our dormant spiritual faculties is the most important of us, so awakening them with sunlight is the most important aspect of spiritual sun-gazing. And an awakened spirit also helps in some ways to heal the body and mind. That doesn’t mean that practitioners of Cosolargy never get sick. None of us are perfect, so we fall prey to the same weaknesses as others, though less often. And generally speaking, Cosolargy students are healthier than the average person. It is also true that sometimes we get ill because we need to develop humility and sympathy for others.

“A transcendental genius obeys the laws which govern all other forms of genius, in being susceptible of culture: and, indeed, cannot develop to its full powers without an educative process of some kind. This strange art of contemplation, which the mystic tends to practice during the whole of his¹ career—which develops steps by step with his vision and his love—demands of the self which undertakes it the same hard dull work, the same slow training of the will, which lies behind all supreme achievement, and is the price of all true liberty. It is the want of such training—such ‘supersensual drill’—which is responsible for the mase of vague, ineffectual, and sometimes harmful mysticism which has always existed: the dilute cosmic emotion and limp spirituality which hang, as it were, on the skirts of the true seekers of the Absolute, and bring discredit upon their science.

“In this, as in all other and lesser arts which have been developed by the race, education consists largely in a humble willingness to submit to the discipline, and profit from the lessons of the past. … Each new and eager soul rushing out towards the only end of Love passes on its way the landmarks left by others upon the path to Reality.” ~Evelyn Underhill

Transcendental Genius

We are not all geniuses as measured by the standard education system, but anyone following a spiritual path is demonstrating above-average intelligence. And those who follow a genuine spiritual path will often discover that their intellect improves as well. It is not unusual for those having spiritual training to discover that they now score ten or fifteen points more on an I.Q. Exam. Not that it is necessary for spiritual growth, but it is a fortunate side effect. It also helps you deal with those opposed to spiritual development as they usually rely on intellect to make their point.

An Educative Process

While there are some today who will deny it, no one becomes spiritually awakened and developed overnight. That is actually a good thing because the revealing of too much reality before a person is ready to handle it has driven some people insane. But there are different ideas of what kind of an educative process is needed. It is probably ideal to have a spiritual adept take you under their wing and teach you individually. Unfortunately, there are few advanced adepts available to do that. The second best option is to attend a school that has an advanced mystic or spiritual adept leading it or at least was founded by such a person. Pythagoras ran such a school which is why I chose a drawing of him teaching to illustrate this article. Cosolargy is one such school and teaches some things that none of the others teach.

While reading spiritual books is a good way to start, but you cannot rely on them for your entire spiritual education. One reason is that the books never contain everything you need to know. Another is that you might misunderstand some of the things the books say, especially when they are said in allegorical terms, as they often are. A third reason is that you have no one you can ask questions of when you have difficulties. A fourth is that a teacher can help you know where you are in your spiritual quest, and what you need to do next. And fifth, working as part of a community developing together helps you grow and gives you some protection from the dark forces and beings that try to prevent us from developing our spiritual Self.

Whole Career

Ms. Underhill tells us that the mystic spends his whole career studying and learning more about the realm of spirit. That education is never complete. The idea that you can spend a few days studying a form of meditation and you are done is complete nonsense. In the ancient mystery schools, the students generally stayed for many years, often their entire life. That wasn’t because they were slow learners, but because the spiritual development process is one of gradual development. Any school that claims otherwise is, frankly, a fraud.

A Humble Willingness to Submit

Underhill is also correct in saying that the successful spiritual student must have humility and a willingness to submit. That is another reason why the process takes years. Few of us have such humility. In our modern world of commerce and competition, we are discouraged from showing humility. It is considered a weakness. Yet we must submit to the Beings of Light, to God, to the Greater Good, if we are to be fully successful in our spiritual quest, and that requires humility. So we start learning the basics of spiritual development, and also to develop humility and love (also very important) gradually. As we advance, we develop more and more love and humility. Those who fail to do so—and I have met some of those—never develop beyond a certain point. So practice your spiritual techniques, but also work on developing humility, discipline, and love.

“’You need to refine every human function – moving, sleeping, breathing, thinking, feeling – and eating.’

‘Wait a minute, Socrates, eating isn’t a problem area for me. I’m slim, I generally feel good, and my gymnastics proves I have plenty of energy. How is changing a few things in my diet going to make a difference [in my spiritual growth]?’

‘Your present diet may give you plenty of energy, but it makes you groggy, affects your moods, and lowers your level of awareness. …’

“In your present state of evolution, you cannot “eat sunlight” except in limited ways. When humanity does develop this ability, the digestive organs will become vestigial and laxative companies will go out of business. For now, a proper diet allows you to make the most direct use of the sun’s energy. This energy helps you focus your attention, sharpening your concentration into a slashing blade. … Your good habits must become so strong that they disolve the ones that are not useful. … I eat only what is wholesome, and I eat only as much as I need. … My diet may at first seem spartan compared to indulgences you call ‘moderation,’ Dan, but I take great pleasure in what I eat because I’ve developed the capacity to enjoy simple foods.” ~Dan Millman

Refine Yourself

While doing proper solar techniques is the primary teaching of Cosolargy, it isn’t the only thing. It is the most important, but there are other things we should do to help our spiritual growth. As the old man Dan calls Socrates (not his real name) says, we need to refine every human function. Some of those functions are easier to refine than others, and changes in our eating habits is one of the easiest.

Healthy Eating

The first rule of healthy eating is to avoid anything artificial. That includes artificial colors and flavors as well as foods that are artificial. Second, avoid heavily processed foods. That seems to be a hard one for most Americans today. We have become addicted to convenient fast foods, which are more accurately called junk food. It also includes anything with processed sugar added. And if you are not ready to give up meat entirely, at least avoid beef and pork—and yes, that definitely included bacon, probably the most unhealthy thing humans eat. As the quote says, such foods lower your vibrations, and your frequencies, and if you are seeking real spiritual growth, that is the opposite of what you want to do.

I recently read the book “Lifespan” by David A. Sinclair, in which he talks about his research into aging and the research of others on the same subject. In this book, he gives advice on what we can do now to not only add years to our lives, but add healthy years. One of the things he advises is healthy eating, and the first rule of it is to avoid eating mammals. That means no beef or pork.

Even good food like fresh fruits and vegetables can be unhealthy if you only eat them cooked. It is a good practice to have some uncooked fruits or vegetables as part of each meal. The enzymes in fresh fruits and vegetables help them digest better and better digestion means better health. Physical health does affect your spiritual health, so it is good to stay physically healthy.

Eat Sunlight

Socrates tells Dan that in our present state, we can’t “’eat sunlight’ except in limited ways.” While what he says is true, at least in the way he meant it, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t bother to “eat sunlight,” even if it is in a limited way. You must also realize that Millman’s book was written in the 1980s, and much has changed since then. While it remains true that humans cannot YET live entirely on sunlight, we do need it for spiritual growth, especially the Light of the Spiritual Sun.

Note: I was beginning to doubt that the man Millman calls Socrates was a real spiritual teacher until I read this short comment about sunlight. From that, I can see that he is a valid spiritual teacher, and while he may not have been teaching Dan the things that Cosolargy teaches, it is because he was teaching one individual and taught him according to where that student was and what he was ready to learn.

Only What You Need

Socrates also says that he eats only what he needs. In other words, he makes sure that he supplies his body with the necessary vitamins, proteins, carbs, fat, minerals, and enzymes that it needs. When you do that, the desire to overeat tends to fade. So does the desire for junk food.

I started following the diet known as the “Bright Line Eating Plan” a few years ago. I won’t go into all the details, but here are the basics of this diet. You avoid sugar and anything that has sugar added to it. You avoid anything made with flour. Grains are allowed, as long as they have not been ground into flour. So oatmeal and puffed rice, for example, are allowed. Beyond that, the diet includes plenty of fruits and vegetables, much of it fresh. And you eat three meals a day with no snacks. I lost weight easily when I am on this plan, and I am much healthier by following it.

So do your solar techniques, read your lesson books and other spiritual books, listen to music ad burn incense. But also remember to eat a more spiritual diet, which also happens to be the kind recommended for a long and healthy life.