proper organ, the structure of energy that would allow you to
stabilise yourself in a higher state of consciousness. You need to
generate such a structure. Start weaving the body of immortality.
Open the central channel of energy, in the middle of the body.
Build up the crown centre, at the top of the head.
Create the proper subtle organs and it won't only be during
meditation retreats that you will be able to experience an
expansion of consciousness, it will be all the time. Even in the
middle of a crowd, in a busy railway station or while driving in
traffic jams, the new state of consciousness will remain with you.
The experience won't depend on your mind being made quiet
through seclusion, far away from the world. Spiritual awareness
will radiate from the Self through the vehicles that have been
built, no matter what happens around you.
We are now at the stage of building the third eye, as a first step
in the realisation of the body of immortality.
9.3 Permanence in the eye
Spiritual paths are many and varied, and so are their techniques.
They invite you to look at the world and at yourself from
different angles. But there are a few common points to most of
them. The central theme that can be found in nearly all methods
of self-transformation is the necessity to maintain a permanent
inner awareness.
Indian masters often like to make their disciples ponder on what it
is that distinguishes an enlightened sage from any other human
being. The latter may be more intelligent, more educated, more
handsome than the sage. He may have all sorts of skills that the
sage does not have. But there is one fundamental characteristic
that makes all the difference between the two: the sage is
permanently aware and the other is not. The sage has exploded into
a space of consciousness in which inner awareness is spontaneous.
The other one's mind is caught in unceasing thoughts, perceptions
and emotions that overshadow the perception of his Self.
To sustain this awareness, all sorts of methods have been designed
by generations of spiritual inventors. Some use a mantra, a
sequence of sounds endowed with power, and repeat it inside all
the time! Like the great yogi Ramdass, for instance, who reached
his enlightenment by repeating the mantra om ram non-stop for
twenty years. Equivalent practices can be found in Christian
mysticism in the constant repetition of certain prayers. The