# “Light shining forms...” and its reversal to “My conscious self emerges...”

Probably written in 1907

Main exercises for morning and evening.—

In the morning, as soon as possible after waking up: withdraw your attention from all external sensory impressions, including all memories of everyday life. In this emptied soul, first fill yourself with the mental image of “calm.” It should be as if this feeling of “calm” were pouring through your whole body. However, this can be done very briefly. (2 to 5 seconds.) Then, for about 5 minutes, fill your soul with the following seven lines:

> Light-radiating forms  
> Shining sea of waves of the spirit  
> The soul left you  
> It dwelt in the divine  
> In it its essence rested  
> Into the realm of the shells of existence  
> My “I” consciously enters.

Try to imagine these lines as vividly as possible. For the first two lines, think of a sea of light in which figures are forming; think of the third, fourth, and fifth lines as the soul emerging from this sea of light as it awakens. In the sixth and seventh lines, think of how one enters the shell of the body through awakening. Both the spiritual content of the seven lines should be felt and the images of the whole should be imagined as vividly as possible.

This is followed by a breathing process, namely four inhalations, holding the breath inside, exhaling, so that the times of inhalation, breath holding, and exhalation are in the ratio of 1:3:2 (not according to the clock, but according to feeling). So if it takes 3 seconds to inhale, then 9 seconds to hold the breath, and 6 seconds to exhale. (Or 2:6:4 or 4:12:8, etc.) When inhaling and exhaling, do not think about anything, but devote yourself entirely to observing the breathing process. Instead, concentrate on the following:

> 1. Hold your breath at the middle of your eyebrows with: I am  
> 2. Hold your breath on your larynx with: It thinks  
> 3. Hold your breath on your heart, arms, hands with: It feels  
> 4. Hold your breath on the surface of your body with: It wants

After this, concentrate for 2-3 minutes on the mental image of a

> “plant growing and dying.”

At the end of the morning meditation:

> surrender yourself to a divine ideal.

During the day, do the following “supplementary exercises” should be done. It is not so important that these are done at a specific time.

Evening: Meditate on the following 7 lines, which should be treated in the same way as the 7 lines in the morning, but with the opposite sequence of images:

> My ego consciously emerges  
> From the realm of the shells of existence  
> To rest in the essence of the worlds —  
> It strives toward the divine  
> Gain soul, this realm  
> Of the shining sea of waves of the spirit  
> The shining structure of light.

Then look back on the day's life. Figuratively and in reverse.

In the evening:

At a time not too far before going to bed, try first to give yourself over to the following train of thought: Throughout the day, I have received impressions from the physical world and formed thoughts about these impressions. I will not have such impressions during the night; I will be in a spiritual world. I will now paint pictures in my mind that are suitable for opening my senses to the spiritual world with a constant, energetic attitude. I will imagine that I am surrounded and permeated by a sea of light playing in all possible shades of color; within it, individual streams of warmth flow; a stream of warmth enters my heart

> Light - symbol of wisdom  
> Warmth - symbol of love

While I live in these mental images, I immerse myself in the following seven lines as if I were really hearing them spiritually:

> From the realm of the shells of existence  
> My conscious self steps forth  
> To penetrate the essence of the worlds  
> To dwell in the divine  
> Gain, soul, this realm,  
> The shining sea of the spirit  
> The radiant structures of light.

Approximately 8-10 minutes after feeling these mental images and inner hearing. Then another 5 minutes or so in complete peace of mind, as if you could hear and see nothing, allowing the after-effects of the meditation to fade away. Then bring a specific event from the evening's daily life to the forefront of your mind and imagine it in reverse, feeling as if you are standing outside yourself. Then take another event from earlier in the day, then a third from even earlier, until you reach the morning. The events will then come together on their own, so that you will have a tableau of the day in a relatively short time. One should exclude thoughts of regret, but always form a mental image of how one could behave better in a similar situation in the future. Immediately before falling asleep, try to permeate yourself with the thought: “From my spirit, give me what I need most.”

In the morning:

In the morning, before any other thoughts or impressions enter your mind, try to recall the images of light and warmth from the previous evening, now with the following seven lines:

> Light-radiating structures  
> Shining sea of waves of the spirit  
> Your soul left you  
> It dwelled in the divine  
> In it, its essence rested  
> In the realm of the shells of existence  
> My “I” consciously enters.

After meditating on this for 8-10 minutes, allow yourself to quietly reflect on the after-effects for about 5 minutes.

Then try to imagine how the day might unfold. - During the course of the day, take a short time to do one of the exercises described in “Initiation”, according to your personal needs, especially from the area of the “6 exercises”:

> Concentration of thoughts  
> Initiative in action  
> Equanimity in pleasure and pain  
> Positivity  
> Impartiality  
> Harmonization of these 5 qualities.

(Not too much in one day.) Reading is left to your discretion: a certain amount of theosophical reading is essential for the meditator. —

In the morning:

> Light-radiating forms  
> Shining waves of the spirit  
> Your soul left you  
> It dwelled in the divine  
> My conscious self enters the realm of the shells of existence.
> I am.


During the day: supplementary exercises.

In the evening:

Review of the day's events.


> I am.
> My ego consciously emerges  
> From the realm of the shells of existence  
> To dwell in the divine  
> Gain soul, this realm  
> Of the spirit's shining sea of waves  
> Of light's radiant formations.

In the morning:

Rest for 2-3 seconds

10 min: In images

> Radiant structures of light  
> Shining sea of waves of the spirit  
> The soul left you  
> It dwelled in the divine  
> Its essence rested in it  
> Into the realm of the shells of existence  
> My conscious self enters

During the day: Additional exercises

Evening:

10 min: in pictures

> My conscious self enters  
> I consciously enter the realm of the shells of existence  
> To rest in the essence of the worlds  
> It strives toward the divine  
> Gain soul, this realm  
> Of the spirit's shining sea of waves  
> Of the light's radiant form

Review of the day's experiences. Retrospective. 8-10 min. Pictorial.

Morning:

Rest 2-3 seconds

5 min.

> Radiant structures
> Shining sea of waves of the spirit
> Your soul left you
> It dwelled in the divine
> In it, its essence rested
> In the realm of the shells of existence
> My conscious self enters.

5 min.

> Mental image of a plant coming into being  
> Mental image of a dying plant

5 min.

> During the day: Concentration of thoughts

In the evening:

> My ego consciously emerges  
> From the realm of the shells of existence  
> To rest in the essence of the worlds  
> It strives toward the divine  
> Gain soul, this realm  
> Of the shining sea of waves of the spirit  
> Of the radiant structures of light

Review of the day's events. Pictorial. Retrospective.

Evening:

10 minutes:

> My conscious self steps out  
> From the realm of the shells of existence  
> To rest in the essence of the worlds  
> It strives toward the divine  
> Gain soul, this realm  
> The shining sea of waves of the spirit  
> The radiant structures of light.

Review of the day's life. In reverse.

[In the morning:] 10 minutes:

> The shining structures of light  
> The shining sea of spirit  
> Your soul left you  
> It dwelled in the divine  
> Its essence rested in HIM  
> In the realm of the shells of existence  
> Step consciously, my ego.

5-10 min.

> Throughout the day: Strength within me  
> I cherish love in the core of my being  
> I place trust in all my actions

Main exercise

[In the evening:]

Throughout the day, I have received impressions from the physical, sensory world around me and formed mental images of them. I will not have such impressions during the night. I will be in the spiritual world. I will now use symbols to imagine the supersensible world, so that these symbols will gradually lead me into this supersensible world. I will imagine that the space around me and within me is filled with supersensible light, as if a sea of light were shining in different colors and this sea of light were flowing through streams of warmth; one of the streams of warmth enters my heart. (Light = symbol of divine wisdom; warmth = symbol of divine love). This mental image should be meditated on for 5 minutes and accompanied by the following 7 lines:

> My ego consciously steps out  
> From the realm of the shells of existence  
> To rest in the essence of the worlds.  
> It strives toward the divine.  
> Gain soul, this realm;  
> The shining sea of waves of the spirit  
> The shining structures of light.

(Hold this impression for 3-4 minutes in complete peace of mind.)

After this review.

In the morning: I reawaken the mental images from the previous evening. And accompany them again for 5 minutes with the 7 lines, but now in the following order:

> The shining structures of light  
> The shining sea of waves of the spirit  
> The soul left you  
> It dwelt in the divine  
> Its essence rested in Him.
> Into the realm of the shells of existence
> My conscious self steps.

Again, 3-4 minutes in a calm state of mind, giving oneself over to the impression. After this:

> Concentrate on the middle of the eyebrows: I am (2-5 min.)
> Concentrate on the larynx: It thinks
> Concentrate on your arms and hands: They feel
> Concentrate on the surface of your body: He wills.

After this: Devotional surrender to your own divine ideal (5 minutes).

Throughout the day: Supplementary exercises.

Evening: Review

10 min.:

> ♄ Friday:  
> Will-giving formations Powerful  
> Waves of the spirit
> ○ Saturday:  
> Light-radiating formations  
> Radiant waves of the spirit
> ☾ Sunday:  
> Soul-giving formations  
> Warming waves of the spirit
> ♂ Monday:  
> Soul-sacrificing formations  
> Powerful waves of the spirit
> ☿ Tuesday:  
> Light-radiating formations  
> Enlightening waves of the spirit
> ♃ Wednesday:  
> Will-living formations Life-sacrificing  
> Waves of the spirit
> ♀ Thursday:  
> Godly formations Peaceful  
> Waves of the spirit
> [and in each case:]  
> The soul seeks you  
> It strives toward the divine  
> With Him it unites its essence  
> From the realm of the shells of existence  
> Step consciously, my ego.

In the morning:

10 min.

> 1. My ego consciously steps  
> 2. Into the realm of the shells of existence  
> 3. It comes from the divine  
> 4. It transforms into the earthly  
> 5. The soul leaves you  
> 6.  
> 7. taken from the previous one.

5 min.

> I am ABM [middle of the eyebrows]  
> remaining in quiet inner contemplation for a short while.

[Regarding the above arrangement of the planetary signs: In the occult sense, a day begins at six o'clock in the evening, i.e., Saturday begins on Friday evening at six o'clock, which is why the sign for Saturday (Saturn) stands for Friday in the meditation, etc.

Regarding 6 and 7 for morning meditation: Here, the lines for the days of the week are also meant to be read in reverse, e.g., for Saturday morning: 6. Powerful waves of the spirit; 7. Will-giving structures]

Evening:

Review

> Light symbol of wisdom  
> Warmth symbol of love

1. Will-giving powerful

2. 10 min.

> Light-radiating formations  
> Shining sea of waves of the spirit  
> My soul seeks you  
> It strives toward the divine  
> With it, it unites its essence  
> From the realm of the shells of existence  
> My conscious self steps forth.

3. Soul-giving, warming

4. Self-achieving, powerful

5. Soul-sacrificing, radiant

6. Light-radiating, enlightening

7. Will-living, life-sacrificing

Morning:

10 min.

> My conscious self steps  
> Into the realm of the shells of existence  
> The soul united with the divine  
> It dwelled in IT  
> Its essence rested in HIM  
> In the shining sea of waves of the spirit  
> In light-radiating formations. ad: